The Choosing
by vK 3 1 RON
Summary: AU:Marco is working-class, trying to help his mother get through long days without his father anymore. Star is a princess, abandoned by her family. Her to-be-throne was given to her adoptive sister Ophelia. Marco is thrown into a competition to win Ophelia's marriage. What'll happen when Star and Marco form a bond over their hate for the monarchy? HIATUS until Mid-Late June 2019 :)
1. The Choosing

Hello! I'm back. Feeling a bit more refreshed for this story, something I'm much more interested to write than my previous fiction.

The original concept for the story came from 'cheddarpenguin' who was a HTTYD story with the title 'The Selection'. Very good, I suggest you read. Regardless! You stumbled on my story, so strap in for a ride because we bout to get bumpy :)

* * *

Summer had just begun to roll around, the winds blew softly across the grasslands, through every alley and corner. Swiftly making its trip across the country of Mewni, it took with it a green leaf, a lush kind of leaf – one that had just bloomed and left its tree: Life, tranquillity and calmness were all things that could be said about it, the green kite then graced itself to a window ledge. The house to which it owed the pleasure was the Diaz household.

Despite my earlier saying of a 'window ledge', it couldn't exactly be called so since it lacked any sort of glass pane to keep the elements out.

They weren't a rich family, not by any means at all – the youngest; only child, Marco lost his father when he was seven due to a coal mine cave in. It hit the entire family but his mother most of all, they were already struggling to get any sort of food on the table. The death had only made her more stressed about Marco's well-being, while also forcing a 16-year-old Marco to get a job. He worked as a fish gutter, wasn't the most elegant job, but it paid. And the only thing that matters in this world, is money.

A sweaty Marco was running home, it was late by now – about 6:30. He knew that his mother would still be out at work but by God was he desperate to get some food in his system, one perk (if you could call it that) of working in the fishing factory was that they got access to free fish, the bad ones. It was a little discoloured along its head, but he was sure that if he got it home as soon as possible, the boy would've been able to separate that part and produce an ample piece of food. Probably even have some left over for his mother, Angie Diaz.

 _ **Diaz Home**_

The teen barged through the door, slamming it in a very stereotypical fashion. After throwing his coat up on the hanger he dashed into the kitchen and grabbed an old, slightly rusted knife and began to carefully carve his way around the skeleton of the water creature. The time was now 7:23PM and he had just finished the preparation, he opened the oven with a loud creak – the glass had a small crack in the top right corner and the pane itself was brown, almost impossible to see anything through. But it worked, he gently slid the delicacy into the oven before turning the heat to 232 *C.

A few minutes later his mother entered the household, with a loud sigh, she crawled from the doorway with bags under her eyes. "Oh, you're back already dear?" She asked, a genuine intrigue held within her motherly voice.

"Yeah, there's a fish in the oven now, it'll be done in 4 minutes." He then turned to her with a smile before ending with, "And it's a good one this time!" He exclaimed with big, giddy eyes. A soft grin formed across Angie's face as she stared at her little boy with a hint of proudness in her façade.

"Welp! If we're gonna eat like a wealthy janitor tonight, then might as well feel like it!" She replied with the same enthusiasm, "I'll set the table, you get the food served!"

"Aye aye captain!" He saluted.

 _ **Butterfly Castle**_

I wish that I could say anything about the magnificent monument of power was humble, but it wasn't. The entire structure screamed wealth and power. Multiple layers of rock, built sturdily one on top of another, on top of another – for what seemed like an eternity to any Mewman stood on the ground.

About 3 floors up laid the dining hall, a sight to take your breath away indeed – golden coloured tapestry flourished every molecule of the wall, which expanded upwards far more than was necessary for any Mewman building. A large oak table sat in the centre of the colossal room, yet it wasn't out of place. There was also a checker-ed floor which emitted a sense of both formality and class.

On one side sat the King himself, River Butterfly. On the juxtaposing side sat Queen Moon Butterfly, then in between the two on opposing sides again, sat both Princess', Star Butterfly and Ophelia Butterfly. They were eating a feast, to celebrate the coming of Summer and the upcoming event which was about to be held to find a suiter for Ophelia, it was known as 'The Choosing'. An event performed for millennia to find royal suiters in Mewni, Star was the same age as Ophelia, but her personality was a lot more… Rambunctious than Ophelia's. The two parents had chosen to make Ophelia the next Queen and for any offspring from her to follow on.

By no means was Star a terrible person, she was one of the most kind-hearted people anyone ever knew. But she was simply too immature to rule an entire country, Ophelia was the contrast of this. While Star remained bubbly and transparent, Ophelia was cunning, smart – witty and knew how to play people to get what she wanted: The perfect queen.

"Excited for the choosing are we dear?" River asked in a loud tone which captivated the entire room, the princess laid her cutlery down gently and turned towards her father.

"Oh yes father, I'm most delighted with the choosing about to begin. I'm dearly looking forward to see what kind of men are drawn in." Her innocent smile made Star want to vomit, whilst she may look like she is an elegant butterfly. A sinister demon lived deep within her soul, Star played with her food when thinking about the bitch. She had hated cursing, always had – but when it came to her sister she couldn't help but feel an unhealthy amount of rage boil inside her veins, threatening to tear down the entire castle if ever unleashed.

"Star, stop playing with your food. It's bad manners." Moon addressed with a glance towards the little butterfly's side of the table.

"She's right you know," River started, "try taking a page from Ophelia's book, the perfect embodiment of both manners and charm." A slight twitch occurred on Star's left eye when her father dared to spew these words of blasphemy out. She gave one last stab into her sausage before standing up.

"I'm excused." She said in a calm manner before politely strolling out of the room, once far enough away she slammed her fist into the wall. A growl escaped her throat as she tried to recollect herself before heading for her bedroom. She had a good relationship with her parents during early childhood, but it seemed like she began to drift away from them. Becoming more and more like one of the worst Queen's to ever live: Eclipsa.

Once they had noticed the change, they had decided that they should get a 'backup' in case Star failed; to them she already had. That was where Ophelia came in, a secret adoptive baby who was given the family name and named heiress to the Kingdom of Mewni.

 _ **Next Morning – Diaz Household**_

Marco woke up with a yawn, it was a Saturday today, meaning that he didn't have work. His mother did but she had only needed to go in for 4 hours. He was still in work mode though, so he awoke at about 7AM. Getting a cold shower, then brushing his teeth with a year-old toothbrush and a toothpaste tube which seemed like a flat piece of paper at this point. He eventually got to breakfast and had some leftover potatoes from last night's dinner. On his way out, he passed by a flyer hanging in the street which read.

"Don't forget! The Choosing is happening this Saturday to decide which 13 teenage men will be invited to the **royal** castle to find true love with the almighty princess Ophelia." _The Choosing huh? Wouldn't that be something if I were picked… Ha, no… There's no way they'd draw a peasant like me to go to the castle._ He swiftly passed on by the flyer and headed towards a pond he always visits, he liked wildlife – something about it made him feel at peace.

After a few moments of sitting there in solitude, he overheard two teens talking. "Dude, you heard that the Choosing is happening tonight!?"

"The hell's a 'Choosing'?" A slightly chubbier teen replied.

"Man, you don't know what the 'Choosing' is!?" The other shook his head. "It's this thing where one of the royal prince/princess' gets to have 13 guys of their age drawn from across the country to stay for a couple week in the castle. During their stay they have to try and win the heart of the princess/prince! And after the first 3 days, a person is removed each day until 1 remains." The original speaker was seemingly a little too into his fantasies here. He leaned in closer to the chubby friend and whispered, "I heard that Princess Ophelia is thick."

The bigger friend then started to form a slight blush on his cheeks.

The two eventually wandered off and began to talk about some other thing to do with sneaking into a tavern, leaving Marco and some ducks to have a very one-sided conversation. "Hey." He said while staring into deep, empty orbs. "Yeah… I sometimes feel a bit empty too." *Quack* "As if you'd understand." An aggressive *quack* followed this statement, "A feisty duck, are we?" It nodded in response. The two continued this awkward conversation for quite some time before Marco looked up in the sky and realised that it was approaching noon. "Oh crap! I need to get home." He broke into a mad dash.

It was mandatory for all people of age to come to the centre of the local town square to find out who would be going to the castle. It would be announced at 2PM, so Marco needed to get home and make some food out of scraps that were laying around.

Once again, his mother arrived when he was making the food, he finished up and ate before giving her a goodbye hug and leaving the house. Once he arrived at the square, numbers 1 to 4 had already been announced. _Crap I'm late._ He squeezed his way on through and stared at the speaker in front of everyone. "5. James Allovgarden. 6. Matthew timmings. 7. Alexander Pattio. 8. Marco Diaz. 9. Freeman Sanders." – _Wait… Did she just…_ Marco gazed on the board which had all the names under a piece of sticky tape, waiting to be pealed off as announced. Sure enough, there lay his name next to a silver number 8.

Anyone who knew Marco in the town glanced in his direction, each one sharing the same expression: Confusion. The rest of the names all became a blur to Marco as he was trying to piece all of it together, once finished the announcer asked if anyone called was present. Marco raised his hand, "Excuse me!" He called, "Is there some kind of mistake?" The caller looked puzzled by this question.

"No, there is never a mistake when choosing a candidate. Even if there were, once called – there isn't anything anyone can do about it: You are in the choosing." All colour seemed to flow out of Marco's face and into whichever dimension was furthest from him. He couldn't leave his mother all alone for that long, there'd be no way for her to cook and clean and work and shop if he's gone.

"Don't worry Mr Diaz, your family will be taken care of while you are in the Choosing. So, if you intend to give a good life to your family, stay in there as long as you can." She finished with a wink.

 _Well… Shit._

* * *

Yes, as you've probably been able to tell by now, it will be a T fiction with quite a few curse words in - I want to write something a bit more grounded in reality than my first fanfiction which was very... Fairytale, like.

Anyhoo - Review, it gives me motivation to write more, leave constructive criticism or any suggestions for where to take the story. Thank you ~


	2. Travel

**Notes:**

allen Vth – Good idea for the conversation between Star and Ophelia – was planning to include one at some point, but they'll probably be a few conversations between the two. I like the idea of them having their own 'silent war'. Magic doesn't exist in this AU, sorry – so the wand isn't here. But there might still be some sort of heirloom. Glossaryck is in the fanfiction, don't worry. A bit OOC like all other characters but shares some parallels. Thanks for the words of confidence!

Bit longer this one, hope you enjoy~

* * *

After he was given the news about his destiny to become one of the Chosen, he carried himself home, half in disbelief of what had just occurred, half of concern about how his mother would take the news. Some teens he passed by gave him high fives and congratulations, others simply gave him a dirty look as they hadn't been chosen. Nobody had expected it though, the chance of a peasant gaining a position in the Choosing was nothing short of a miracle.

Once home he attempted to quietly creep in, however, the door wasn't on his side as it let out a massive creek once moved even an inch. "Marco, are you home?" It was time for Marco to let out his own massive sigh.

"Yeah mom, I'm back." He tried to sound as normal as possible, but mothers have this strange sensing ability when they can tell if something's wrong.

"What's going on?" She called from the back room.

He paused for a moment before returning, "Can you come and sit down?" It took her a moment to come into the room, there were a few *Bangs* and *Dings* to each of which Marco winced slightly.

"Ok…" She let out whilst lowering herself into a slightly crooked chair. "What is it?" Angie said with a small breath afterwards.

"Well… You know how the choosing was today..." He started.

"Oh crap! That was today wasn't it, you went, didn't you?" Her voice was full of worry and concern, if you didn't show up it was treated as a sign of disrespect towards the royal family, you could easily be fined or arrested – neither of which the poor mother could take: Emotionally nor physically.

"Yes yes, I went…" Her breath relaxed at this info, but she proceeded to stare at him. Waiting for him to continue whatever train of speech he had started.

…

…

"Welllll – I uh—I ended up be—hmm- "

"Spit it out dear, we don't have all year."

"I got chosen." He managed to batter out after a few miserable tries.

Where his face had dropped all sign of life, her face had taken in that extra life. She took a moment to process but her joy was evident, Angie's face slowly started to shine brighter and brighter before she let out a wild howl of 'Wows!' 'Hows?' and 'Prouds.'

The Diaz boy was taken aback by his mother's enthusiasm to this news, "Wait so you're not worried?"

"Worried? At what?" She asked inquisitively.

"The royal family." He began, "I mean they haven't exactly done anything to sort our life out. It's their fault that we live in poverty. They are without question the most powerful people in the entire kingdom and I'll be staying with them! They could have me hanged at the snap of two fingers!" His voice had become more erratic and breathless.

His mother brought him into one of those motherly hugs, the kind that make you forget any pain or reason and just leave you in another human's embrace. One which is full of kindness and love, one that can calm you even when the world is on top of you. Which was exactly what Marco had needed right now. "Shush." She cooed, "Marco. You can't blame everything on the royal family, some things are just out of any person's control; they have an entire kingdom to take care of."

"It's not fair." A single tear escaped his eyes as his voice began to crumble, "Why do they get to have it all, and we're left with nothing…"

 _ **Butterfly Castle**_

The door of a stuffy room moaned open, to which princess Ophelia stepped in. It led to the library, more specifically for what she was looking for, the part on all the citizens staying inside the kingdom. She had taken an interest to her candidates, after receiving the list, so she wanted to know more about what kind of people they all were. She was certain that she could find information from looking at which house they all came from. Those at the higher class of society get a 5x more chance to be picked for the Choosing, middle-class get a 2x multiplier and those in the 'worker' category have 1 entry into the pot. With 60% of them not even being entered at all.

"Glossaryck." The princess demanded. To which the old book keeper simply raised his head from his novel slowly.

"Yes?" He asked with an indifferent attitude which didn't feel like the kind of attitude you should have when talking to royalty.

' _Filthy old bastard'_ The princess thought to herself. "Where can I find the book of houses?" Her head was held in an upright manner, looking down upon the old man.

He may have been old and in the presence of a self-proclaimed deity, but he had enough backbone to play coy. "15, 32, 3." He responded. A puzzled look was contorted to the princess' face, she was about to ask what he meant but as her lips opened, Glossaryck continued, "15th Row, 32 Columns Down, 3 Books up." She let out a *hmmpf* and stormed off.

A few moments later Star walked in, to which Glossaryck greeted kindly. "Hey Glossaryck, whatcha readin'?" She asked with her usual bubbly persona.

"Oh, I'm just catching up on the 'Montrialg War', quite fascinating you know."

"Sounds boring." She replied with a look of dread and boredom on her face, to which the old man laughed.

"Anyhoo, I brought you your favourite pudding!" She cried as she held both hands out to deliver the gift. The man's eyes immediately lit up and he hungrily grabbed the food – thanking the princess for her present. The two had always been close, when her parents started to treat her like she wasn't part of the family anymore, he was always there to give her guidance. She loved him like an Uncle, and vice versa for Glossaryck.

"So…" The princess started, "what's your opinion on the 'Choosing' this year?"

Once the candidates are drawn, it's Glossaryck's job to do a background check on all of them, make sure that they aren't some serial killer or anything.

"Well, it's quite interesting – this year we have two worker classes entering the competition—"

"TWO?!" She blurted out, forgetting her environment to which Ophelia turned her head around the corner and motioned a ' _shush'_ gesture.

Glossaryck chuckled to himself, "Yes my dear, two. 7 high class and 4 middle class." However, that was all which was discussed about the 'Choosing', the two ended up falling into a friendly chat over their mutual disgust with Ophelia.

An hour had passed, and Star had to say goodbye to Glossaryck, they both saw each other off and the little butterfly began to hop her way to the exit, once out she fell into a more natural stroll. That was when she had noticed a pair of feet following her, curious, so she turned around to find Ophelia walking behind her with her usual smirk in full-bloom.

"What do you want?" Star asked, her tone shifting from a friendlier one to a cold, annoyed one.

In retaliation, Ophelia's face pouted and she sweetly said "Nothing, just wondering if you and the old fart have done it yet?" Another twitch crept its way into Star's eye.

"Funnily enough, no we haven't. But how about you and that bar boy? You've been a bit of tart to him lately, haven't you?" It felt good to be able to retaliate for once, she had just heard this news a few days ago. "It'd be bad if news spread about you being unfaithful to a husband you don't even know yet."

Ophelia's face shifted from one of joking-ness to seriousness, "Oh? The little butterfly has fangs, does she? No matter, nobody would believe you anyway. Ask yourself, would your parents believe the 'embodiment of formal conduct' or a 'loose canon with no situational awareness'?" Even though Star hated to admit it, she had to – 'phelia had a point, no way would her parents believe her, they don't even see her as a true member of the family anymore.

"So, let me be clear Star." The aforementioned Butterfly looked up, "You tell anyone - I mean a single living soul, about Markus – and I will end you so completely that you'll be banished from this Kingdom."

…

"Now run along dear. I'm busy with stealing your crown and your husband." A fire was lit in Star's heart, this girl – no, this monster, had dared to come into her life. Take her crown, her family, whatever happiness she had before, and raze her mentality. Ophelia strolled past Star, giving her a hair flick when walking by.

Once Ophelia was out of hearing range, "Just wait you pompous, arrogant, little-"

 _ **Next Day – Diaz Home**_

In order to make sure that there could be no sabotage from other candidates or terroristic groups, the police arrived in the morning to take Marco in a wagon to Butterfly Castle. The wagon itself was a marvel, tinted glass with different pieces of history buried into their curves.

"Did you pack your toothbrush? And your comb? And your gloves, you never know when it'll get cold there—oh! And your pillow!" Angie was frantically scrambling around the house.

"Dinnae worry Ma'am." A police officer stated, "The castle will provide all necessities and clothing." Mrs Diaz felt a lot less calmed down by that then the police were hoping for.

"It's fine mom, I'll be fine. If it gets too much, then I'll just forcibly be bad, so I can leave." His mother grabbed him into one last hug.

"I love you, Marco."

"I love you too mom." She began to slightly stroke his hair for a moment before the officer coughed and mentioned that they should be getting moving if they don't want to be late. Two carriages awaited them outside, one was to take Marco to Butterfly Castle, the other was to take Angie Diaz to a resort, a few hours away from the city.

"I'm so proud of you Marco… Now. Go win over a princess!"

"Aye aye captain!" He shouted with one final salute before they both entered their individual wagons and taken off separate ways.

 _ **2 Hours Later – Marco's Carriage**_

"So," the officer who was riding in the carriage with him looked over, "any idea how long the trip is?" Marco asked.

"We'll be there in 4 hours." One downside of living in the city where Marco was from was that there wasn't really anything of important close by, hence the long trip.

"How'd you become an officer?"

"Ah, takin' an interest in me ar'ya? Same story for all, felt that there be a higher calling to me on the field."

"Really?"

"Haha, no kid. It pays decently, my family need the money so here I am. The name's Pete. Pete Broadway." He had a gruff, manly, Scottish voice.

He extended his hand out to Marco who happily received it, "Marco Diaz."

"Ay wee rascal, ever seen the princess?" Pete asked.

"No… A bit scared to be honest. Knowing how they could have my head off and no one would bat an eye."

"Aye, I 'ear ya lad. Is a wee bit scary that someone holds such great power."

 _ **3 Hours Later**_

The hours seemed to melt away, Marco had made a new friend on his way to a possible execution, or at least what felt like it. "Say, have you ever met the princess?" Marco asked.

"No, not me. One of my squad mates over in Chesterson, aye he met the princess. Said there was another lass there in the back… But one thing I can tell ye – keep on yer guard boy. Apparently the good ol' princess isn't as friendly as it might appear." The warning hadn't done anything but scare Marco even more. Here he was just getting mentally prepared to face the royalty but then gets told the princess is out to take heads.

"Oh wouldja look at that!" Pete said before pointing outside to a large castle. "We made it 'ere faster than I thought we would." As Marco turned his head to face the castle he was almost blinded by its ginormousness, if you thought the carriage was fancy, then you might have a heart-attack just looking at it.

Once out, Pete helped him grab his stuff, most of the candidate were already here, apart from 3 who were yet to come. They said goodbyes and Pete left for wherever his next job was. He scanned the competition, whatever warm blood he had in his body after seeing the castle had just been frozen by the others. Most were wearing high-quality formal wear, whereas Marco could only scrape together his father's old uniform from when he went to school. It was a formal school, so he was lucky that it wasn't too out of league compared to his other clothing.

"Hello there." Marco heard a friendly voice and turned to the direction only to find a brown-haired, glasses-wearing, slightly tanned boy standing next to him.

"Oh hi there, you a chosen?" Marco asked, returning the friendly tone.

"Well, you know how it goes - feeding some seagulls one day, and then all of a sudden I see my name on the list of the Chosen." The boys face went blank as he remembered this piece of intel, simply staring into an uncaring void.

"Which class are you from?" Marco questioned.

"Ah me? I'm just a working class citizen, don't stand a chance at winning this thing." Marco's face had slightly lit up at hearing this, he wasn't the only one! He had someone else that he could talk to, someone that understood – to a degree, what he was going through.

"Same here!" Marco practically shouted, making a few heads turn his way who then instinctively put hands over his mouth. "I'm a working-class too!" The other boy's face mirrored Marco's, for one working-class to be chosen was a miracle. For 2? It was nearly impossible. "Marco Diaz." The Diaz stated as he held his hand out.

"Alfonzo Dolittle" The other boy said as he took Marco's hand.

* * *

 **Few things:**

Tart – someone who is acting a bit promiscuous (sl**ty) when they aren't.

Also, I did like the idea of bringing in Pete for this chapter, maybe he'll return later. Who knows? And I wanted to try giving the other characters I introduce something a bit more memorable about that, hence the reason why I chose to give Pete a Scottish accent. I tried to keep it so that you can understand what he's trying to say by just using common sense. 'Dinnae' meant 'Don't', 'Wouldja' means 'Would ya' etc etc.

Please review, it gives me a lot of motivation to keep writing, and feel free to leave some constructive criticism. Sees ya later~

Oh and before I leave, little tidbit – while I was writing the conversation between Glossaryck and Star I had a coughing/choking fit.


	3. Hurt

**Notes:**

Not much this time, I had a real blast writing this chapter. Hope you enjoy it ~

* * *

A few minutes after the two had met, trumpets started to play, drawing the attention of every candidate in the courtyard. "Attention!" Came a boastful voice that almost drowned even the trumpets themselves, "I present to you, the royal family!" On cue, the large – brightly coloured doors swung open in synchronisation to one another. It was like the doors were either respectful to the royal family or terrified of being out of place.

Ophelia was the first to come forward, River was on her left, Moon was on her right. At this moment all the candidates bowed in respect, Marco and Alfonzo were at the back of everyone. Despite being a working-class, they knew the kind of procedure that had to be followed when addressing or meeting the royal family. Pete had filled Marco in, presumably Alfonzo's escort informed him too.

The princess had both her hands clasped together in front of her body, once she reached the end of the platform she began to speak. "You may rise," her voice was kind, soft… Almost motherly. The keyword being almost, Marco couldn't quite put his finger on it, but something was off about the way she spoke. "Hello my dear chosen few, right now I don't know any of you. Your names, your places of birth, your family. But by the end of these next 2 days, I hope to know your origin, your character, and perhaps even more." A soft breath, at this moment she was already scanning through the people. Putting names to faces, she had found out a lot about the candidates, but there were two which she couldn't seem to find anything out about. ' _Marco and Alfonzo, where are you?'_ She thought, after making her way through them all she arrived at the back. ' _That must be them.'_

Marco felt a chill roll down his spine, Alfonzo moved back a little. Call it a prey's intuition if you would. That was the moment when Marco realised that this girl wasn't normal. However, a few moments passed by and the chill went away as her eyes darted back to the centre of the crowd. "You must be weary from your travels, please, do take the rest of the evening to enjoy yourself. Feel at home, because for one of you – this will be home." Unanimously, all hands erupted into a controlled clap.

They all began to walk inside, the servants took their luggage, taking them up to their personal rooms.

 _ **Inside the Castle**_

It was a small convention, the 13 plus the royal family. And a few guards of course made their way into the dining hall, it was much larger than the private one for only the royals, this one had an old feel to it, wooden pillars supported the structure. Beautiful paintings of more history and achievements plastered the walls. Alfonzo and Marco were silently chatting to one another in the back, they wanted to avoid being anywhere close to the royals.

"Hey Marco," The Diaz leaned in, "Would you rather eat a batch of dead fish or kiss that?" Alfonzo darted his eyes towards Ophelia, which made Marco almost burst out in a fit of laughter – if it weren't for the sacks of rich meat that blocked his full view of the royal family he'd almost be immediately spotted. He could only look down into his clothes and smile.

The family took their seats which resided on a table in front of all others, chairs facing towards everyone else. (See this link for image: /a/0sfCI). Marco wasn't aware of any sort of rule which entailed that you should remain 10 steps behind the royal family, and so everyone else stopped dead in their tracks. Causing Marco to bump into the person in front of him – he quickly used his wit to come up with something, putting on his best impression of a posh British person he mustered, "Oh -uh – terribly sorry, I actually need glasses like my friend over there. You see, they were left in my luggage which is being taken up now." The man in front was at least a head taller than Marco himself.

"Watch yourself next time pipsqueak, you're lucky we're in royal presence or you'd have a broken rib cage right now." Marco wasn't scared of him, his father taught him some fighting moves when he was six – never forgot them. He took up the martial arts when he was 8 because he knew that there'd probably be someone he'd need to knock out since his father wasn't there to protect his mother.

Nevertheless, Marco wanted to keep that card hidden for now and not start a fight, so he threw himself back into his posh British voice. "Ah yes, of course, no problem." Once the guy had accepted his apology, Marco turned to Alfonzo with a face of ' _What the f*** just happened?'_ His new-found friend simply shrugged his shoulders and mouthed ' _Not a clue.'_

The guards began to seat people, Marco and Alfonzo were put on separate tables, they only used up the first 7/6 seats on each table to remain close to the family. They then began to bring food out, a full five-course meal, what Marco wouldn't give to shove every drop of food into his mouth. He had to pace himself though, Pete was a good mentor, he gave him information on how to properly dine. Simply start from the outside, and work your way inwards.

They brought out soup first, some cream barley soup. It was definitely something for Marco, going from fish that was partly rotten to luxurious five-star food was amazing. It was completely unfathomable for his stomach which couldn't quite keep up with the richness of the soup presented to him. Regretfully, it began to ache, but it wasn't rumbling. All he had to do, was force himself through this food without making a scene and it'd be fine.

But with each passing bite it became even more and more difficult to keep it down, the creaminess of the soup melted along his tongue and slid down his throat with such a refreshing texture it was overpowering. He was unable to finish the last bite.

On the other hand, when he slyly browsed the candidates adjacent to him, he noticed that they had also left a little in the pot. However, there was one person, 3 seats down from Marco who finished his entire serving. It seemed like the royal family looked in disgust at him, not saying anything but gazing at him with a disapproving look. The same for all the other Chosen. Marco tapped the person on his right and asked why they were all looking at him.

"It's rude to finish your entire serving here, it shows that you can eat more. Leaving some is respectful as it shows that you 'couldn't even eat another bite'." For once, Marco was glad that he didn't eat all his food. That was surely not a good way to start the day.

The rest of the dining was uneventful, the appetizer was Pork Dumplings. The salad was a Beat Salad with Goat Cheese, a little bit lighter on the stomach that one was, with the entrée being ratatouille. Finally, we had the dessert. Marco found this one a lot easier to eat, seeing how it was assorted fresh fruits and cheeses.

The time now was 6:10PM, everyone had finished their dinner and Marco was turning slightly green on the outside. But he still held on and refused to let his body eject the foreign entities. The Queen and King began to ramble on about something with being so excited to have them here and hoping to find a dashing man to take their daughter's hand in marriage – honestly Marco wasn't paying much attention, instead he was surveying the room. Trying to take his mind off his exploding stomach, there was an open second floor, if you will, sort of like a balcony that ran along the entire room with railing to prevent falls.

To the left of the royal family, on the second level, he spotted a blonde-haired figure crouched down, gazing at the royals as they recited their well-rehearsed speech. "Who's that?" Marco mumbled. The figure noticed his pair of eyes staring at her, it quickly vanished behind a wall and made a slight squeak on the floorboards, to which the royals snapped to it and stared for a moment before River had a hearty laugh, claiming that it must've just been a mouse.

Ophelia came to the centre stage once her parents had finished, "Our servants will take you to your rooms now. We'll be convening again in 2 hours for a celebration, during which I'll get to know some of you." Once again, as if by cue the doors bellowed open and multiple servants moved in a coded-fashion. They all stopped to guide their individual Chosen to their place of slumber.

Marco's servant was a woman, brown hair tied up in a bun. A well fitted waistcoat, shirt and pants covered her up, she wore white gloves and had the kind of smile on her face that spoke a thousand words. The Diaz could tell by looking at her that she would be a quirky, chirpy character. Once out of the hall she immediately pounced on him with questions. "What's your story? How old are you? Speaking off, when's your birthday? Oooo – what was your impression of the princess?" All of which were spoken with such fluidity and speed, that it made Marco question the limits of human potential.

"Uh…" They were now walking next to one another at a lightning fast pace, Marco hadn't even noticed that he was walking abnormally quick – too caught up in her 21 questions. "I'm a working-class from East Klingon, I'm 16, November 16th, she was uh… strange."

"Haha! Yes, she is a little bit strange indeed, you and I seem to be the only ones that notice it though."

"Oh, you think she is too?" Marco asked, the servant nodded.

"I mean I'd never say it to her face of course. That wouldn't go well haha!" The servant never lost face, even when talking about her possible hanging. "Ah, here we are!" She unlocked the door and gave one key to Marco. The two walked in and she showed Marco to his bed. "This'll be your room for the time being, I like you kid – don't go getting kicked out on the first rejection day! I'll be your personal assistant too, so if you ever need anything, just ring that bell there." She mentioned as her hand pointed towards a bell laying to the left of his double bed. "Your luggage is there." The hand moved towards another door in the corner of the room, "The bathroom is just through that door. Anything else?"

He simply stared for a moment as he tried to process all that had just occurred. "Erm… What's your name?" He questioned with a smile.

"It's Emilia." The assistant replied. "Anything else?"

"No… That's it I think."

She nodded and made a swift exit to the room, once she had left he simply moved over to the bed and fell on it. _Uh… I haven't been here for more than 4 hours and It's already mentally taxing… I don't think I can go another 13 days._

 _ **20 Minutes Later**_

It took Marco 20 minutes to get his thoughts together, once they were he decided that it'd be best to go look around the castle. _I'm sure if I go anywhere restricted guards will tell me._ He left his room and made a satisfying click with the keys in the lock.

The hallway was quite large, very generous in size indeed. It had a few large windows that were scattered along the corridor, with a few candles on each side to emit some light when it got dark. He started on his path, choosing to head right, after a few minutes of walking randomly he came to some stairs, knowing that this entire floor was dedicated to the Chosen's quarters, he went up a level. Deciding that he might stumble on something a bit more entertaining up there.

Once up, the corridor looked identical to the previous floor, the red in the carpet had been switched to a gold colour, a few pictures hung upon the walls. He didn't know the royal family entirely, but he assumed they were all previous ancestors, noticing that one included a picture of Ophelia.

He moved further down the hall, but as he began to approach one of the rooms he heard a *Thud* along with some shouting, Marco being the silver knight he is, dashed towards the room careful not to do anything which could compromise himself in the Choosing.

He was now only a few feet away from the door, that's when he heard. "—nothing! Why can't you just accept it? … Star… You are NOT meant to interfere with the guests while they stay here, you remember what happens when you break promises right?!"

Marco had identified the voice to be King River. He froze in place, _Who's Star? Is he… abusing… No! It's King River he ca—_ "But dad I wasn't interfering I was ju— Argh! You're pulling my hair too hard!"

"Be quiet! You deserve punishment. Do you know how embarrassed we are of you? Well do you?! We've had to put up with you for 16 long, painful years. You're so like the Queen of Darkness that your very existence is blasphemous." Marco had his ear to the wall now, he could hear sobbing from the other side. The door handle began to open – there wasn't anywhere to run. The entire corridor was plain except for the rooms.

Luckily, the door opened so that it went inwards, towards where Marco was standing, even more lucky was that River kept his eye on Star until the door was fully covering Marco's body. "Clean yourself up girl, you're getting the floor wet." He left for the stairs that Marco came up from. As soon as he the door was about to fully close Marco grabbed it with his hand. Star was on the floor at this point, not looking towards the door, she could see it open out of the corner of her eye and a figure moving towards her. She flinched, ready to accept a beating.

But nothing came... That was when she looked up, red eyes, flushed cheeks, frazzled hair with some strands laying on the floor next to her. Marco was taken aback by the amount of guilt he felt when he saw her, he could've stopped this… He could've tried to intervene, but he just let it happen.

"Hi there." He started.

"H-hello?" The girl replied with wobbly lips.

 _What do I do? I've never dealt with this kind of thing…_

…

"I'm sorry." He said apologetically.

"For - *cough* for what?"

"Letting that happen." He reluctantly stated, his own eyes almost about to explode with tears of sadness, it was infectious.

The two simply stared at one another for what seemed like an eternity, unsure as to what to do. "I think you'll feel better if you get on your bed." He suggested, not making eye contact.

"Yeah… Sure." She said with an indifferent tone and began to crawl towards her bed. Marco bent down and helped pick her up to her legs, she was shaking, it wasn't too far to the bed, so Marco supported most of her body mass.

"There you go." He said as he put her down on her bed, it had a blue overhead, pink cover and a fluffy pillow that he could spot a little wet patch on.

"Thank you." She said.

"For what?"

"For doing that." Marco smiled at this, she was so kind. It made him question even more so how King River could do that to her.

"What's your name?" She asked, the eyes had dried a little more now, but her face was still flushed.

"Marco… Marco Diaz." He replied, now looking into her eyes. "What's your name?" Marco asked, concern evident in his tone.

"Star… Star Butterfly."

Marco took note of her last name, but decided not to pursue it any further for now."That's a beautiful name." Marco replied, he wanted to know this girl more. Something about her intrigued him and he couldn't look away. "You know…" Her face that was turned towards her blanket had now been drawn back to him, "I've still got an hour and 20 minutes before I have to go... Maybe I could stay and chat with you?"

Just like how his face had lit up when talking to Alfonzo for the first time, her face near enough set on fire just after hearing that he cares enough to spend time with her.

"Yes! I'd like that." Her wobbly lip had now disappeared, and she wore a gentle smile, the flushed cheeks were still there, they still held pain in their meaning. But they now held another meaning to its redness too.

* * *

 **Notes:** I did say on the first chapter that I'd try to include some more realistic themes in here, abuse was something that might have been foreseeable but I wanted River to have a dark side too. Everyone in this might be two-faced, or they might be plain. Who knows? Question everyone because anyone can be evil.

With that said, I forgot to put it on before but my twitter is vKAtFanfic_Net I post updates of current chapters and it's a way to get in touch with me outside of

As before, review - constructive criticism, praise, either or is fine. Let's me know real people are reading and not just numbers on a graph :P Peace ~


	4. Bad Feeling About Her

**allen Vth -** Yeah I'll give Glossaryck some more description next time he appears. Alfonzo! Yes, I was originally going to have an OC there, but then I changed it to Tom - but then I changed it to Alfonzo because I wanted to share a parallel with the canon, Alfonzo hadn't been explored too much yet so I thought I could use it very much like an OC, and Tom has another part to play :P Not sure where he'll fit in yet though. Next, Ophelia isn't interested in the competition itself, you'll see a bit more of that here and I'll tell you a bit more in the notes at bottom. Finally, yeah... River has to be like this for the story to work, I don't like it but at the same time - it's different? I guess.

 **AchingHeart2011 -** Thank you very much :) , 'Phelia definitely has some sort of infatuation with Marco & Alfonzo given the mystery that surrounds them as she wasn't able to find much info on them.

* * *

They didn't talk too much for the rest of Marco's stay, he was there to calm her down and make her feel safe more than anything. Whatever conversations they did have were fun though, Marco enjoyed them – she gave him a story about how Glossaryck had accidentally set fire to a whole section of the library when trying to cook his own secret pudding under his desk. The Diaz wasn't that infatuated with the story since he didn't know who this Glossaryck was, he enjoyed it because Star wore one of the biggest cheesy grins when getting to the part of Glossy's pudding. That in and of itself was enough for Marco to return a grin.

He knew that he should ask about the abuse, but he couldn't do that to her. His mind was telling him that he needed to get to the bottom of it and unravel the mystery, so he could do something, but his heart was screaming to just let her be at peace for this short hour.

After she finished her story on Glossaryck's pudding, Marco shared one of his stories on how a bird poked him in the eye and made him fall out of tree because he got too close to a nest. He fell in a very dirt pond, this had earned a giggle from the butterfly.

Seemingly, time had flown away, a loud bell echoed throughout the halls, signalling that it was time for Marco to leave. "Well… I'm off to die of boredom, wanna come with?" He asked while extending his left arm out.

Her hand moved towards his thoughtlessly, ready to accept but just before it reached it, she had to stop herself. A pained look flashed across her face for only a moment before she donned her old happy face again. "No… It's fine, don't worry – they aren't my kind of thing anyway." She wasn't convincing. Marco had to accept the excuse though and, so he began to make his way to the door, Star's feelings were rising exponentially with each passing step, she couldn't put a word on what she was feeling. Love? No. Pain? Maybe… Anger? Possibly. She was sure that she hadn't fallen for him, I mean it was an hour of talking and she was sure that he only stayed there in the first place because he saw her crying.

Was she angry at Ophelia for taking her new friend away?

Was she pained to see her friend taken away?

Or was it something else?

Marco's feelings weren't as volatile, he felt like he accomplished something today, he made someone's life just a little bit better and that was enough for him. _Just wait until Mom hears this, I mean… I'll leave out the part of abuse and all._

Once he made it to the door, he softly opened it – the latch made a much less violent noise when it was released compared to River's closing of it. He stepped outside and looked back at Star once more who wore her famously bad, fake smile. Marco let out a sigh, _What has that bastard done to her…_ Then, in one swift movement he gently closed the door behind him.

He left for his room once he had exited Star's, they were told that once the bell sounded their assistants would head towards the chosen's rooms to collect them. He entered his room, it wasn't unlocked, therefore Marco knew that Emilia had not been yet. But as with everything in this castle, that was her cue to knock on the door.

*Knock Knock* Marco had literally just walked in, how she made it from the stairs to his room in the time she had was anyone's guess. *Inhale… Exhale* He brushed his suit down, opened the door and was greeted with "Hello Sir! It is me, Emilia! I am here to take you to the ball." _Just as excited as ever._ She came in the room with a boom, instantly banishing any sort of depression that had taken control of the room.

"Hello, Emilia!" Marco put on his best impression of her, to which she was only more amused. "Let me just collect my things and we're good to go." He should've had this done beforehand, but due to staying with Star all the time, he hadn't prepared anything. He polished his shoes, combed his hair in a matter of seconds, threw on his suit jacket. And was ready to go, just before exiting the room however, Emilia grabbed him on the shoulder. He turned around with a questioning expression to which she grabbed his bow and levelled it out.

"Trust me, if there's one thing you don't want to do. It's to make one silly mistake that announces your working-class title to any other candidate."

"Uh… Thanks, I guess."

"No problem Sir, now should we?" Her open-palmed hand gestured towards the stairway, to which he simply nodded in response.

 _ **Ball Hall**_

It was amazing how fast the servants worked, banners were strung across the hall in all places. It had a warm light being emitted from several massive chandeliers – all of which contained a lot of candles. "Hey Emilia, did you help do this?"

"Yes I did Sir, I'm not just your P.A. you know." She replied casually with a wink.

Once inside Marco began to look for Alfonzo, a friendly face in all this would've been most helpful. It took him a minute to identify which person he was under this dim light. But once he found him, he told Emilia that he'd be fine from here on out and she can go rest or something.

The assistants were meant to stay with the candidates in case they needed anything. But, as she was Marco's personal assistant, he should be able to give her orders. She needed the rest more than Marco needed her right now.

It wasn't until Marco was only a few metres away when Alfonzo noticed his approach. "Hey Marco." He greeted in a quiet voice, musicians were playing so there wasn't a fear of being overheard. But the boy was paranoid.

"Hey Alfonzo." Marco casually replied, he didn't want to expose King River to Alfonzo yet, he still wasn't sure how much he could trust him. And wanted to keep that close to the chest for now, the less people that knew the better. "Any sign of the princess yet?"

"None so far, but the royal family is up there." Alfonzo responded with a slight nudge of his head towards the front of the room. Marco couldn't quite look at River the same as he did before, he never liked the royalty because of what they put all the working-class through. But he didn't think that the king was so terrible as to abuse his own daughter. Who knows if Moon is the same? Regardless, he had to be extremely cautious around the two from now on, if that's what they do to a blood-relative, who knows what they'll do to a stranger.

 _ **Star's Bedroom**_

After Star's feelings had calmed down a little, she thought that a warm bath might help so she drew one up. As the bath was drawing she wanted to write in her journal everything that had happened. She kept one because she wanted to keep a record of all the happiness in her life. To help get her through all the abuse, needless to say today's section held a majority of what Marco did for her.

The bath had finally finished after about 20 minutes, she let go of her clothing and dipped herself in the bath, slowly at first – allowing her body to adapt to the heat. A few sharp breaths, but eventually got herself fully submerged into the warm liquid.

' _It happened again… How would he feel if I pushed and beat him? Would he feel pain or proudness?'_

While lost in her thoughts the door of her room unlocked.

At this point Star had her ears underwater and so didn't hear it until she saw the silhouette of the bathroom door swing open, there was a curtain, so it blocked most of her view of the intruder. Immediately, she rose her head out. "Hello little butterfly." Cooed 'Phelia.

"Bitch." Star responded with venom phasing into her voice.

"Oh, is this how we're going to play? So be it. I have a ball to attend to anyway. A bunch of sheep in wolf clothing if you ask me. All no personality or strength, just sacks of money. Not like it concerns you anyway, I'll be taking all the towels in the room just so you can't interfere. Have a good night." She finished with a slight giggle at the end.

"Wait! No you can-" by this point it was already too late, while she was monologuing, Ophelia was collecting all the towels and clothing in the room, as soon as she was finished she headed for the door and left. The little butterfly didn't know what to do, she couldn't do anything.

She could remain in the warm bath, possibly start to get a cold from having her face in the cold air too long, or try and get out to her bed. Keep warm there, but she'd probably just wet the bedding and make herself even colder.

The royal family didn't see her as welcome in the castle and, so they did not allow for her own personal assistant, therefore she had no bell to ring. She was alone, in a cold room with no way to dry off.

' _Someone help…'_

 _ **Ball Room – 10 Minutes After Star's Predicament Started**_

The two friends were talking about their families when the large wooden doors opened, revealing Ophelia who was dressed in a pink dress, blue diamonds plastered along the bottom left part of the dress. Her hair was in a couple plats that ran along the back of her head, mimicking 2 halos overlapping and flowing down her back. The rest of her hair was simply drooping down her spine.

Needless to say, she drew the attention of every person in the room. King and Queen Butterfly were currently talking to 3 candidates. Something about the economical downfall of Pralf, their neighbouring kingdom and their plan to save them for a Public Relations stunt.

'Phelia was making eyes at everyone, whilst Marco's attention was diverted at first, she didn't keep his attention long. A moment later he started to look elsewhere around the hall, glancing at the other chosen, trying to get an idea on what kind of people they were based on how they acted.

' _What does that idiot think he's doing? Does he not realise he's ignoring a goddess?'_ Her face didn't reveal her inner thoughts, instead she kept an innocent smile to cover up whatever kind of evil dwelled inside her heart.

She didn't go to her seat, instead she stopped just before the steps to her table were and spewed out another bullshit speech about how she's so excited to meet everyone and meet her future husband etc. It was quite annoying at this point for Marco, he had enough of that rehearsed, well-written, unsympathetic crap. It was all but confirmed for Marco at this point that something was wrong with her. "Alfonzo, what do you think of the princess?" He asked once the speech was over.

"My opinion remains the same as it was, something is wrong with her and I don't know what. She's too perfect, perfect hair, perfect clothing, perfect speeches… I think your escort – Pete, was it? – Was right to warn you about her." Marco let out a small 'hmmm' in agreement.

"What do we do to find out?" He asked, to which Alfonzo stared at him blankly with a worried look.

"Nothing!" He blurted, "I mean. We can't accuse the princess of anything, if we do we're basically broadcasting treason." He had a point, if this were a normal case they could go snooping around, worst case scenario they're arrested for trespassing. But this was royalty, even one slip up, one single mishap and they'd be hung for their crimes. Not to mention what they could do to Marco's family.

"Alright… I give up… Wanna get some food?" Marco asked, his voice changing to a more carefree one, there wasn't much point in agonising over it. The royal family were all here, together. Meaning that Star wouldn't be hurt for now at least.

 _ **Star's Room**_

' _It's cold…'_ When Ophelia left, she turned off Star's heating. For most of the time the bath water remained warm and, so she hadn't felt the cold. But once it starts to get cold it really goes. _'Right. All I gotta do is get back to the front of the room and turn the heating on. It's fine.'_ Her thoughts led her to the conclusion that she'd have to run to the front door, turn the nozzle to allow the heating to come back. And get back in the bath before she freezes completely, the bath water was still lukewarm, but she wet her face earlier and so the cold atmosphere was accelerating the coldness on her face.

Star dived out the bath and tried to calmly - but quickly walk to the front door.

She got there!

It was a bit dark now, but she could still make out the switch, once flipped, a loud hum started to be generated above her ceiling. _'That's it!'_ All she had to do was get back to the bath now, by this point her entire body felt absurdly cold from the atmosphere so she hurried back.

But, she wasn't cautious enough.

The floor had been wet from her previous venture out to the switch and she made her fatal error, her foot had too much forward velocity that it glided across a little bit of water. Causing the rest of her body to fall backwards in reaction. Luckily, her head was still above the carpet surface of the room previously, so it didn't suffer any major damage compared to the rest of her spine which hit the tile floor with a massive *Thump*.

And yes, while the damage to her head wasn't severe, it was still a nasty bang to the head, enough to put her unconscious.

When she awoke she had no idea what time it was, her head was buzzing, and her core temperature had dropped dramatically. She assumed that maybe 15 minutes had past given the position of the moon change. _'argh… My head, a concussion? Crap…'_ Which leads on to her next predicament.

She had fixed the heating, but she now had a concussion – she could crawl to the bath and turn the hot water on… But who knows if she'd fall asleep in the bath and forget to turn it off, possibly drowning. Or, she could crawl to her bed and wet it all, likely resulting in hypothermia. She would get dry using other clothes if she could, but she didn't have many to use, and they were held in another room just across the hall.

' _Bath.'_ Hypothermia would've caused major injury to her body, and would almost definitely be a possibility. She forced herself to her knees and shimmied over to the bath, which had dropped from a lukewarm to a slightly colder temperature now. The good news was that it woke her up a bit more, bad news was that it was colder. But warmer than having exposed skin to the air.

She fumbled around with her fingers for a little, trying her hardest to turn the hot tap on. A few tries later: She got it!

It took 3 minutes of it being on before the temperature was at a point where it was pleasurable to be in again. But she couldn't sit in a bath forever, turning the hot tap on every so often. She'd have to sleep eventually.

Plus, to make things worse, now that the bath was warmer, it did a good job at inviting subconsciousness to take over.

' _No. Nope! I'm not gonna die here! Try it… I dare, you… just…'_

…

…

It won.

* * *

 **Notes:**

Ooooo! Cliffhanger, am I right? Oh well, it's only for a day until chap 5 comes out ;P

I like the way this is evolving very much so: Ophelia has a god complex, River is abusive and two-faced, Moon remains an enigma for the audience and Star has troubles facing up to her fears out of even more fear of her father. Marco doesn't know how to help her and (I) can't think of a way to expose River with safety.

Thanks to everyone who's been reviewing, it put a smile on my face even though it's only 2 people so far, but those two were very nice and constructive, left some good ideas for me to follow and I'm grateful :) .

Peace~

 **Tidbit:** Might be a regular thing, who knows - anyhoo, when I was proof reading the 4th paragraph I ate a sandwich.


	5. Wounds

**Notes:** Hello everyone! I had a party last night with some family, stayed up til 4AM and didn't wake up til 1PM. That's why this one is a little late and might feel rushed, I honestly have spent a good 2 hours on it in total.

I won't lie to you, it's definitely my weakest one so far in my opinion, apologies. But this mainly focuses on some Star & Marco relationship building, trust etc.

 **allen Vth -** Won't lie xD I actually meant to write in the last chapter that the tap was turned off before Star passed out, but I read it again and realised that I didn't explicitly state it so I guess we're rolling with it still being on! :P

 **Annabeth2345 -** Sorry! Checked your review date and it was Dec 27th. But, I only just got it 29th December so I couldn't respond before. Bit too early for me to say about the plotline with Markus, just realised an error I had planned but I've figured it out. It will be explored don't you worry! There will be starco ;)

* * *

There was still some friction between Star's body and the bottom of the bathtub, therefore her body hadn't slipped in yet. The hot tap had been left on and, so it kept up with a relentless downpour of hot water, but it could only get so hot. While it was uncomfortable and drove a bit of a sting into any nerves that encountered it – the heat wasn't immediately life threatening, however, after a lot of exposure it could easily become a very lethal entity.

Star's mind had blacked out by this point, she could still feel the burn, hear the water running and feel the hot water drip from the top of the tub to the floor, gradually encompassing the entire room. It was terrifying, she could feel it but couldn't respond. Who knows when she'd slip and drown? _'This isn't good. What do I have around me?'_ She had attempted to find some way to call for help, if she could just move one finger a little, perhaps knock something off and cause a bang.

But, there wasn't anything around her. Sweat began to drip from her forehead as she stayed in there for longer, it had been about 20 minutes since she fainted now. Her body still unresponsive as ever. By now she had basically become a slave to the water, her mind was still in a daze from the concussion and she could feel her lower half starting to lose grip against the ceramic surface. _'Is this it? No grand scheme, no higher purpose… Die to something I've been drinking for years… Ironic.'_

Her eyes were slightly open, any sign of life they held was withering away, leaving an empty shell which had succumbed to the idea of death.

"Star?" A familiar voice called from the other room. ' _Hey… That was… Marco… Right, I think… Yeah, it was Marco. It was Marco! He's here!'_ The name call from her friendly companion had etched itself deep into her heart, forcing her will to let out one last attempt at survival. It was stupid idea, and if it didn't work she'd die a few moments later.

She decided to force her body to release grip of the tub, if she sank, the water would flow down to replace the area now available by her head moving, once the water collided, it'd create a splash noise. Hopefully a bang would occur too from her upper half hitting the ceramic.

' _Here goes nothing!' *Whoosh*_

 _ **5 Minutes Previously**_

The time was 9:24PM, Emilia had walked through the door now – Marco had been chatting to Alfonzo and getting to know Matthew Timmings, a real, genuine person he was. Didn't look down on anyone and was here not to win but just to make a few friends, Alfonzo and Marco were happy to get to know him, happy to know that it wasn't as black and white as everything seemed. All high-class people weren't snobs and some cared about others.

They all shared some food and had a little laugh, Ophelia made her usual stroll towards the trio. "Hello boys." She started, the three looked at her, each holding their own form of a forced smile. Alfonzo's was the least convincing, followed by Marco. Matthew on the other hand felt so normal that the Diaz had to question how many times the young man had done it.

Out of the corner of Marco's eye he spotted Emilia enter the room. The other three began to make idle chatter about any stories they had, just getting to know each other. But Marco had been waiting to get out of this place ever since he got here, now was his chance. "My apologies princess, but I need to freshen up a bit." For once, it seemed like 'Phelia was taken aback by someone else's words, she was ignored by this boy for a second time. It was infuriating and insulting, how could he look away from her?!

He bid farewell to the other two and left to get Emilia, "Emilia. Can you cover for me for 20 minutes while I get some fresh air?"

"No problem Boss." She saluted. Marco released a short, cringey sigh before replying.

"Never… Do that again…"

"Yes Sir!" She said, her posture was upright and lean, as if in the presence of a commanding officer.

"Forget it." Emilia let out a slight smile at this, Marco began to walk out of the hall before falling into a hurried walk.

He wanted to see what was going on with Star, something about her made him want to know more. Despite being in the presence of the King, Queen and other Princess, he wanted to see Star more than any of them.

The teen eventually got to the floor he was at before; gold linen was woven throughout a silky carpet – ceramics laid out in a symmetrical order down the corridor. 2 Glass chandeliers were the light source to banish the darkness.

However, once he got close to the door of Star's room, he noticed a small wet patch outside (The water from 'Mission: Heat Switch). Curious about what it could be he knocked a couple times, no answer. He knew that she wouldn't just leave her room given her status in the castle, he forcefully opened the door. ' _Unlocked?'_ Strange.

A small yellow light was escaping the bathroom door, he noticed that the floor surrounding his feet was awfully wet for being so far from the tub, and lead to the bathroom. ' _No sign of her in this room.'_

"Star?" He asked, trying to get any sort of reply. He would've hated to intrude had she been in the bath, who knows what'd happen if he accidentally walked in on a naked princess.

He waited a few moments before deciding that no one was here. But something in the back of his mind was telling him to check the bathroom, nagging at him that the water was suspicious, and he needed to investigate.

' _Screw it.'_ If she wasn't in there, no problem… If she was, possible problem but she'd understand. And if she was in danger, then he wouldn't be able to live with himself knowing he could've helped.

As he approached the door, he had noticed that there was a slight bit of blood on the carpet, it wasn't too old, maybe half an hour at maximum. This had sent him flying from his previous mindset regarding to be cautious, instead, opting for a more forceful approach, he knocked on the door – this time with more strength.

No answer, his worry was building up quickly.

Fearing the worst, he opened the door and was greeted by a small pool of water swallowing the bathtub. His eyes darted for search of Star – until they landed inside the water and saw a blonde mess floating at the bottom of the tub, a little bit of crimson was escaping the blonde threads. His hands reacted and pushed through the almost scolding water to grab Star and set her free.

Once her face had escaped the water her body immediately gasped for oxygen, a mad frenzy of sharp inhales.

Her eyes wouldn't open but the fact that her body was accepting an intake of air soothed Marco slightly, he rushed her to her bed, snuggling her in. He searched madly for any towels but couldn't find a single one, which was odd, but he hadn't noticed that yet. Coming to the conclusion that there wasn't one in the room he darted out, headed for his room.

He arrived at his door, but in the panic dropped the keys several times. He threw open the door which released a crash as it hit the side of the wall. Immediately moving for the bathroom, from which he grabbed the first two towels he saw. One to get the majority of her dry, the other to dry excess and a white bathrobe to keep her warm.

 _ **Star's Room – 2 Minutes Later**_

Marco rushed into the room, Star had begun to open her eyes and form a sense of consciousness again. "Star?" He questioned, hoping for any sort of response.

To which he received a slow but understandable "Yea?"

"We're gonna have to get you dry, kay?" She couldn't understand what he was saying but she knew that he wasn't going to harm her and simply nodded in response.

He took the duvet off and closed his eyes, gently patting her down with the towel. While he did see her in the bath, the water made her figure distorted, and when he dragged her out he was more concerned about her safety and so was already scanning the room for anything that could get her dry.

He didn't want to ruin her image of him, therefore he had to try and dry her without looking. It was a pain like this, but he didn't mind, he'd rather spend more time making sure she was alright with what's happening, then rush things and take no consideration of her feelings, the blood escaping from her head had sealed up, leaving only a small stained part in her hair.

Once finished, he grabbed the bathrobe and asked her to put it on, her movements were sluggish, but she eventually got it over her body, the only thing left to do was tie the belt. But her arms hadn't enough strength to be able to tie it tight enough. At least, that's what she told him.

' _This is nice.'_ She thought to herself, ' _It's not like I love him, but just having someone to comfort me like this is nice. It's relaxing to have someone like him around. Without him… I'd be dead now.'_ When he was drying her, he deemed that it'd be okay to look at her arms when drying, the willpower he held to not shift his eyes over to her body was… Let's say better than mine would be.

But when he was looking at her arms, he noticed that there were a few… A lot, of bruises – some were very purple while some were a faint tinge of blue, it hurt to see her like this.

Reinforcing his hatred that had began to violently flow out of control for River. However, when he gazed further down her arms he noticed that something was wrong, something that no person should ever have to feel forced to do. He noticed a small scar on her wrist, followed by another… And another, until the total count ended up to 6.

The top one was the freshest, still red and scabbed up. The one below was slightly pink, illustrating that it hadn't been any longer than 2 weeks old with the one above only being about 4 days.

His eyes began to brim with all kinds of emotion: Sorrow, pity, anger, distraught, helplessness, uselessness. Everything filled him except for happiness.

He placed the cover back on her body, and sat in a chair that laid in the corner of her room. He didn't care what the rest of the royals had to say about it, no matter how disappointing that girl was. Forcing her to the point which her only solace was self-harm was wrong, on every level. There is no excuse for it.

 _ **2 Hours Later**_

It was late in the evening now, but Marco remained sitting in that chair, wanting to be there for her when she awoke. Her soft breathing was the only sound to be heard, the Diaz took comfort in knowing that she was still breathing. However, after a few more minutes of this had carried on, her body began to stir.

Slowly waking up from it's slumber, a little more time passed and the little butterfly's eyes fluttered open. She took note of the faint white glow falling in from her window, illuminating everything. Summoning any energy that she could muster – the princess forced herself to an upright position and spotted Marco.

"Marco?" She asked, half still asleep.

"Hi Star." The Butterfly remembered it all, Ophelia trapping her, the fall. The hot water, Marco's voice… Drowning.

On remembrance of the last detail her breath became rugged. "Hey! It's alright, don't worry. You're safe."

"Why did you come?"

"I couldn't stand being down there much longer… I wish I could say that I had a feeling you were in need but honestly… I was in need of you, that's why I came." The two sat in a silence after that, each just wore a gentle smile which communicated all they needed.

After a couple minutes passed, the important questions started to be asked, Star taking the initiative.

"Did you… uh… See?" She was looking down in her duvet now, an impressively large blush covering her face, not like Marco noticed as he was hiding his own blush at this question.

"I mean… I saw a distorted you in the water, then your arms when you were in the bed… But not any part… Else…" It was awkward for the both of them, neither knew what to do in this situation, it's not exactly something they prepare you for in school, not like either of them have a regular school - if any school at all.

More silence befell the two before Marco asked the next one, this one diving into more personal territory – but he needed to know.

"Why do you feel the need to… Harm yourself?" For lack of a better phrasing, Star looked at him in shame.

"I don't know… It helps?" Marco knew that she'd say that, deep down he knew that it was the reason why she did it. To help get over the abuse by her father, but he didn't want to hear it. This precious flower that was so kind and pretty, destroyed by a corrupt father and forced to pluck its own petals.

"Do you want to do it?" Marco asked, concern was abundant in his tone.

"No! Of course I don't… But, it's sort of therapeutic to see that I still have blood… I began 2 months ago and just, can't stop."

"Star…" It was his turn to have a wobbly lip. She took a deep breath in, followed by a shaky release of said breath.

"I want to help you… I promise I will, you are so perfect that I won't allow you to go down this road. I'll figure something out, I'll save you, but I can't if you keep hurting yourself." His eyes began to water, knowing that this friend he made just a few short hours ago has already almost died, and has thrown their life away.

"You've got so much more to live for, it'll get better I promise. So please, don't… Don't cut anymore."

Hearing Marco's words moved her, watching him break down like this made her realise that her destroying her own body had an affect on him too. So much so that he's almost crying and pleading for her to stop. "Ok." Was the only thing he got, it was enough for now.

"Good. Get some sleep, I'll check up on you when I can tomorrow." His words hit her in the heart, she felt trapped between two opposites. Her father who wanted to beat her and be rid of her, and Marco who desperately clung onto a hope that he could save her from herself. He left for the door and softly closed it behind him, once gone. She buried her face into her pillow and cried, cried for Marco and herself.

 _ **Same Time – Outside Star's Room**_

Marco began to walk down the hallway, it was dark outside now, the moon provided an archaic source of light, but it wasn't bright enough to illuminate the entire corridor, only the parts close to the window.

When almost at his room he heard, "Mr Diaz." From behind him, immediately freezing in his position as he realised who was behind him, slowing turning around to respond to his addresser.

"Hello, Queen Moon."

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 **Notes:** Yep! That's a wrap people, another chapter down. How you liking it so far? Good? Bad? I know this one was pretty bad as I stated earlier, but I hope it was bearable, I'll try to make it up to you all with the next one :D

 **Tidbit:** You have no idea how frustrating it was for me to work out the time that Marco arrived at Star's room. I had to go all the way to chapter 2 when I said Marco left in the carriage and then say he left at 9AM. And just count all the timings that I had from there xD


	6. Dawn til Dusk

**Notes:** This went up same day as Chapter 5. I have a bad habit where if I'm depressed about a chapter being terrible I'll make another one same day, it's good for you but it dramatically increases odds of burning myself out from writing XD Oh well, it's here now. I had a much better time writing this one, I wanted to be more animated, more descriptive - all around a better chapter. I'd say this pretty good.

No Reviews Submitted On Chap 5 Before This One Went Live. So I'll Include Any/All For Chap 7.

* * *

"Hello, Queen Moon."

The woman that stood in front of him invoked an aura that radiated power, something about her was like that of Ophelia's aura. I wouldn't say she has that 'God-complex' which 'Phelia has, but instead one of absolute authority and most likely the reason as to why Ophelia developed a superiority-complex, as a result of an inferiority-complex to Moon.

The metaphorical beast of a woman wore a simple dress, a light blue covered her lower half and torso, with darker blue 'wings' spanning from the shoulders. Her hair was encompassed in a ring of pearls, the centre being held up by a pink and yellow diamond that glistened beautifully against the picturesque hallway, illuminated by the moon's soft glow.

"I seem to be noticing that whilst you're a Chosen. You've shown no direct interest in Princess Ophelia, instead you decided to leave the ball completely."

Her gaze was strong, it burned deep into his eyes and he couldn't find the words to respond. Being face to face with her was so much more different than what he had seen of her before. "I… uh – I needed to get some fresh air, if you don't mind my saying that ball room was quite 'stuffy'." The Queen let out a small chuckle at this.

"Yes, that room is a bit old for me too. But I'm afraid I'm unsatisfied, _why_ did you leave her without speaking more than a sentence to her?" She had him on the ropes, what are you meant to say when someone asks you why you didn't speak to their daughter? Especially when it's _the_ Queen of the kingdom you live in. "To be honest, you requested that your assistant cover for you while you get some 'fresh air', yet you told my daughter you needed to 'freshen up'. The act of 'freshening up' implies that you'd be using toiletries. Not going outside to get air, and speaking of. The guards never saw you leave."

He gulped, Marco had really dug himself deep in this one. In his rush to speak with Star he completely messed up his alibi. "I – uh - "

"Now, this is completely hypothetical of course, but would it be that you've some other matter to attend to in the castle?" She had him, cornered. Like a rabbit in headlights he just stopped, time stood still for him. "Shall we continue this chat in your room?" He couldn't even respond so he just stood there watching while she moved past him and opened his room. Her hand beckoned for him to follow which he mindlessly did.

She pointed for him to sit on his bed, he obeyed. "So, tell me. How did you two meet?" Marco looked at her with a blank expression, hoping for some clearance as his mind wasn't fully caught up with what happened so far. "I mean you and Star." _'She knows? She knows… Wait, how? When?'_

"I heard her crying when I was walking around the castle… I wanted to see what was going on."

"She was crying? That doesn't sound like her." Moon's behaviour seemed strange to Marco, how could she act like she knows nothing when she must've shared a large portion of what had caused his new friend so much pain.

"How?" Moon looked at him with a puzzled face, "How could you not know what she's been through when you're her mother?"

"What she's been through? I knew she and Ophelia had a private war going on, but I didn't think it'd push her to levels of that magnitude."

"You know what I'm on about!" His voice became louder at this, more spiteful, the Queen wasn't sure what had pissed Marco off so bad as to why he'd raise his voice like this. He knew that she was the Queen, he wasn't a silly boy. No way would he carelessly shout without reason.

"I assure you my boy, I know not what you speak of. Is there something I should know about my daughter?"

"You honestly don't know about the ab- … self-harm? And the fact that she almost died tonight?" He could've spilt out that River had been abusing Star, but getting help to Star was one thing, convincing a married woman that her spouse was abusing their daughter, that was an entirely different ball game. One that Marco didn't have the resources or the proof to tackle right now.

Moon took a deep breath inward, before closing her eyes for a second and exhaling. "Self-harm?" The mother kept her composure, but it was slightly evident to an unbiased eye that she was feeling shame and pain at this. Marco, however, was not an unbiased eye – he saw this as a lie.

"You cannot honestly tell me you care for her after what you did to her. You locked her in a castle, in a room away from anyone ever knowing she existed. What parent would do that!"

The Butterfly looked down in her lap for a moment, it was her turn to figure out the best way to answer. "It was for her own good. She shared too many parallels with the Queen of Darkness. Letting her become public knowledge would put immense strain on the tensions between the monarchy and citizens. They wouldn't accept a Queen that could become one of the worst this country ever saw."

"So, you locked her away? Pretend she never existed?" The Queen was disgraced with herself.

She took a moment before responding, "Alright… I'll permit you to see her, speak with her on your own free accord. But it'd be a shame if you were to be removed on the first day, it'd make your friendship rather pointless and perhaps send her into further depression… Give me time to think about a solution, however, I need to warn you that if Ophelia chooses you. You don't have any right to refuse, you will become her husband."

Marco could accept that, he wanted more time to be with Star, even if it meant just a few more days. Even if it meant sacrificing the rest of his life, he'd do it for her because she was worth it.

The two finished their conversation then, the Queen left the room, leaving Marco to compute everything. This had all taken course over Day 1. 12 More.

 _ **Next Day – Marco's Room**_

Marco awoke at about 6:30AM, breakfast didn't start until 8 and so he had some time to kill. His internal clock was so used to waking up and this time for work that he was unable to fall into a slumber again. Instead he opted to go visit the outdoors of the castle, being the greatest structure in the history of Mewni meant that it held a pretty substantial area that held a forest.

He'd always visit a forest back home, when the fish factory didn't have any food or if he had a day off, he'd usually spend it going outside to the forest. Studying wildlife and catching any fish/meat he could find. Usually fish were much easier to catch with the equipment he had. The Diaz didn't have many friends, most kids started working in a factory when they were about nine, including Marco. Meaning that none of them made friends, they had existed for making money.

The guards allowed him to pass without query, once outside he noticed that the garden was beautiful – he came to the castle through the front way. There was a small fountain covered in green, a statue laid in the centre as a pivotal piece to the identity. Whereas, on the back end of the castle, the entire thing was essentially green. Beautiful flower beds decorated the area – bringing life into the otherwise empty atmosphere. When he was about halfway through the garden he spun around after hearing a tapping noise gradually get closer: It was Ophelia.

' _Oh crap… Here we go again.'_ He still didn't know a lot about Ophelia, but based on what he gathered from his and Star's conversations she was a mega-bitch, maybe even more so than Linzie Goldmin who caught Marco fishing just inside the boundary of her land, seized all the fish he caught that day. 5 whole fish, none of which were caught on her property.

Ophelia had eventually caught up to him and the two stood in shade behind a lush green hedge. "Hello, Marco." He didn't remember ever giving his name to her, possibly Alfonzo gave it away. Her voice was different from last time, instead of being sweet and innocent it felt seductive. As if she had dropped her fake act and became more direct with her approach of what she wanted. "I want to know about you, who are you Marco Diaz? Why do you feel the need to ignore me? What is it about me that you can't stand?" Her fingertips were now crawling up his shirt, head leaned in towards his neck.

It was strange, a boy his age would usually lose control if a girl did this to him, but instead he felt surprisingly calm. He was sure that if Star did the same thing he wouldn't be able to keep any sense to his thoughts, but not for her. Instead he decided to play his own little game.

"Isn't it a bit early for a princess like you to be up?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you're thinking of my well-being darling, but I always get up at this time," now her head was a little lower than his eyes, her eyes were gazing lustfully into his. "But a princess has duties, _dawn_ til dusk." She put a lot of emphasis on the 'dawn' in that phrase, Marco didn't even want to begin to imagine what a _'dawn'_ duty would involve.

She was good, Marco had started to lose his shield. He knew her game now, break you down until you can't defend yourself and then attack; it was working. His heart began to race a little more now, her leg bending upwards into his 'area', he couldn't make eye contact and had to look away in shame. The hedge they were behind covered them from sight of the castle windows and exit.

Thankfully, Marco was saved by a call from a servant, "Princess! Your bath has been drawn." Her face was visibly agonised by this calling, a small *tut* escaped her lips. Before leaving she turned to Marco with one last attack.

"I'll be thinking of _you._ "

The boy snapped out of it by now, he began to control his breathing once she was out of sight. He sat down, head leaning in to the hedge. "That girl will be the death of me." He muttered to himself before picking his body up and leaving for the wilderness again.

 _ **Forest – 10 Minutes Later**_

He climbed over the branch after branch, the smell was fantastic. Where high-class folks may throw up at even the mention of mud, Marco was relishing the moment – it was the first thing he found that remained consistent of his old life, the patterns the trees made as they flew through the years remained the same, the asymmetrical, different coloured flowers piling on top of one another. Creating an unsynchronised symphony as the wildlife danced around them to the beat of life.

He found a quiet spot underneath a tree, it was in the shade, however, there wasn't much need of it considering that the sun was barely even out yet. He had a wide view of a pond that felt peaceful for him. It felt like a private spot for him, somewhere that he found within the castle that reminded him of a quieter life.

During his 30-minute stay there he managed to get a glimpse of a deer drinking from the pond, it had white spots that were more abundant at the back and faded as they came to the front of the creature. He also saw a few fish jump out of the pond, some catching flies that hovered above, others that went back without food.

When Marco was inspecting his room, he came across a watch in one of the draws, who knows who's it was, or why it was there. Maybe it was given to all the Chosen in case they didn't have a watch. But he took it, knowing that he'd get more use out of it, it read that the time was 7:45 and Marco knew that it'd take him a solid 10 minutes at normal speed to get back. Leaving him the perfect time to make it to breakfast.

But he forgot to account for the mess that the grass made on his clothes, _Oh shit. Guess I'll run._ And so, he flew through the trees, using his martial artist body to get over logs with ease and almost phase through the dangling vines.

He managed to make it back in only 4 minutes, but that left him out of breath and only 11 minutes to run to his room, change clothes and make it down to the hall. So, he sprinted passed the guards, yelling a "Sorry!" As he almost slipped when turning a corner for the hallway, the marble flooring didn't make it any easier, or quieter.

He made it to his room in record speed, 8 minutes to get ready. With lightning-fast actions he dismantled his clothing, tore open his wardrobe to reveal a very nice selection of outfits to wear, trouble was. They'd all take too long to get on, so he made a choice for the simplest one and dived across his bed, pulling the bell which sounded for Emilia to come. It was impressive, her response time was a minute. _Guess their office is on this floor._

"Yes S— ah!" Emilia let out a yelp as she was practically dragged into the room.

"Emi, I need help putting this on!" He said as he showed her the outfit, she stared blankly for a second before comprehending it all.

"Er… Yeah! Okay, let's go." For once Marco held more enthusiasm and energy than she did, Marco wet his hair and combed it over while Emilia prepared the suit, unbuttoning all that had to be. Once Marco came out of the bathroom, he was in his boxers – forgetting that Emilia was a woman too he didn't realise until she started to blush and stutter for him to do something, to which he replied.

"Pass me the clothes then." She hurriedly passed him the clothes to which he put on some blue bottoms first, then a white shirt, followed by a blue suit coat. He buttoned himself up, glancing at the watch. 7:57 AM

He could make it! "Thanks a million Emilia!" Marco shouted back before bolting out the door and down to the ground floor, leaving Emi in complete utter silence with a massive blush on, she simply started to laugh after a moment.

"That kid'll be the death of me."

 _ **Dining Hall**_

It felt a lot livelier than yesterday when everyone arrived, there was a lot more socialising between the guests. It seemed like after a good sleep everyone felt more rejuvenated, the high-class society encourage competition, but to also be sportsmanlike. Once Marco entered he couldn't help but feel hungry as the smell of bacon, egg, toast & more fled into his nose. He casually moved over to Alfonzo who was already seated, he sat down next to him. They spoke about their mornings and how hectic Marco's was, he left out the part of Ophelia – speaking of which, every time the Diaz would look to the front, there she'd be. Always smiling suggestively at him, only making him more uncomfortable.

The servants brought food out to all who were present, a very healthy meal indeed, one of which would've sent Marco over the moon to receive back home. His body still hadn't adjusted to the copious amount of food he had ingested yesterday, so he took it easy but was sure to eat enough that'd show gratefulness.

After everyone was done, Queen Moon tapped her glass with a spoon to call the attention of all present.

"After much debate, we have come to a new census on the way the Choosing will be carried out this year. A contestant will not be dropped after tonight, or any other night. Except for the last night where the winner will be announced, this is to ensure that all contenders get the same amount of time to show off their ability to our daughter." A few murmurs started between a group of three at the furthest possible place from the monarchs, Alfonzo and Matthew were looking at each other – both were quite smart and were presumably trying to figure out why it had changed. Marco, on the other hand, was smiling at Moon – nobody else noticed but her, to which she replied in her own gentle smile.

She had bought Marco the full 13 days, that could work. But considering all that happened over day 1, what would happen over the next 12?

* * *

 **Notes:** What'd you think? That felt much better, I wanted Moon to not be completely evil, and not aware of River's abuse. I had to go through a bit of thought for that because I wasn't sure where I wanted Moon to be. I think she'll fit in given more time but right now it's like a sore thumb.

Anyway! I enjoyed writing that scene with Ophelia + Marco, and the scene with Marco running for the castle to get his clothes.

Finally, please do Review, gives me motivation! And you can also leave constructive criticism or any suggestions for the story, always nice to see fan interactivity!

Peace~


	7. We Met In A Bedroom

**Notes:**

 **mr black cat -** Moon still has potential to be redeemed, but in my opinion River has taken it too far and cannot be redeemed for his actions. There is no excuse for child abuse.

 **An unimpressive name -** very impressive name :) , here's more!

 **Feakiu -** Yeah I wanted someone to be there, I left Moon as an enigma for so long because I had wanted to setup the rest of the family first.

2 things: 1) I have no plan for this story, I had one to get going... But, I am literally making it up as I go xD of course there are some plot points and twists that I have. Just finding a place to put them in is hard.

2) This was... Difficult to write, that's why it was so late. I simply had no ideas where to take it, I knew other things I want in it, but it wasn't time to put them in yet. Any suggestions please do leave them because I might just add them in :)

* * *

The early morning feast was finished, the servants began to clear things away and the Chosen were informed that the next 5 days would consist of wooing the princess by whatever means they saw fit. The other week would be spent doing activities which may consist of 'Horse Riding', 'Swimming', 'Martial Arts' etc.

After this announcement was made, most of the candidates broke off into their own teams. Marco, Alfonzo and Matthew gathered in a group just outside the hall, you could see an exit to the garden just a little bit away from them, the warmth of the sun was more prominent now that it had passed 10 O'clock. The walls of the lowest part of the castle, where the dining hall was were made out of stone rocks, the Diaz was leaning against one with his arms crossed. Alfonzo was standing to the left of him and Matthew on the right.

"What's your plan to woo the princess?" Marco asked the two, who looked at each other for some guidance before both of them flat out confessed that they had no idea.

Mr Dolittle reversed the question on to Marco, "How are you going to woo the princess?"

"I don't know…" He paused, taking in a deep breath, "It feels like she already has an eye on me…" He proceeded to tell them about the incident in the garden, leaving out any specific details that he deemed to be a little invasive. And then about the stares he was receiving at breakfast.

"Well done man!" Matthew cried, he raised his hand for a high five but Marco didn't respond to it.

"I don't like her though. I think she's playing me for some reason but I don't know why, she said she hadn't a clue as to who I was."

"Marco!" Matt cut him off, "It doesn't matter why she's doing it, you're getting her attention! If you don't like the kingdom now just think what you could do if you were king. Right Al?" He looked to Dolittle for any confidence, it took the boy a moment before realising what Matt was after when he asked him.

"Yeah…"

"But?" Matthew asked.

"But, what if he already likes someone else? He's throwing his entire life away for the good of the kingdom and that's not even scratching the surface of what he'll have to endure. You two do realise that she's a bit of nut-case? Right?" It was a tough call, Marco could be a semi-slave to a woman who is as fickle as the Autumn wind and maybe change the kingdom's rules. Or he could just leave it all behind, find a home far away from all this, meet someone he loves and will love till the end and live a happy life.

"Yes I'm well aware." Marco stated. "But I can't just throw away a chance to change my mother's life, forever. Start anew, conquer the divide between high and low class. That's not just a once-in-a-lifetime choice - this is history we could make."

"Do what you want Marco," Al replied with a defeated sigh, "but you don't owe this country a damn thing. You've suffered long enough to have a good life." At hearing Matt's words, Al stared into the ground. Still contemplating within himself as to whether he should back up Marco not being with Ophelia, or say that he should to save the working-class.

"Thanks guys… I'm gonna think it over, who knows maybe she'll move on to someone else before this is all finished."

"Take all the time you need bud." Alfonzo said before Marco walked off to the stairs, there was only one other person he knew in this castle which could give him some advice.

…

 _*Knock Knock*_

The door unlocked, Star stood on the opposing side, she hadn't opened the door completely. Leaving a chain between the door and wall, probably to stop anyone intruding on her doing whatever. Or to keep her father out, every time Marco was here he couldn't help but let his mind flash back to that day. When he met her crying on the floor, tears streaming into nothingness.

"Hey Star!" He chirped, "Can I come in?" Motioning to the lock with his eyes.

"Oh yeah, no problem." She replied, closing the door, moments later Marco could hear the * _clink*_ that the metal made as it swung against the mahogany. The door swung open again, this time making way for Marco's frame to enter.

The two sat down, Marco was on a pillow on the floor, Star sat on her bed. The two felt like they knew an abnormal amount about each other despite their short conversation time, yet every time it came to speaking they both fell silent. Unable to think of a way to crack open one another's outer shell. "What'd you eat for breakfast?" Marco asked, wondering what kind of food she'd be given.

"Nothing, I'm not locked up in here or anything, I can roam the castle but I was told to stay away from the Chosen. River and Ophelia didn't want me to intervene with the service, afraid I'll ' _taint_ ' people or something. Bullcrap if you ask me but that's the way the cookie crumbles."

"That's no good!" Marco said, resolution filled his voice as he grabbed her hand. To which a small blush formed on her cheeks and she couldn't help but stare at it, hearing only parts of his next sentence. "You're coming down with me right now, we're gonna get you food and talk." He pulled her off his bed, she hadn't much control of her body right now and just followed along behind.

Today Star was wearing a light blue dress, a yellow waste strap held it tight to her abdomen. Two more yellow clips held her hair in place. The two danced down the corridor, being sure not to let her be seen by River or Ophelia, those two would surely cause Star a lot of grief given the chance. Moon would've been awkward – to say the least if ran into, but right now he wanted to try and avoid any person at all.

They had made it to the lowest level where the hall was, two guards stood at post at the entrance which was located about 14m in front of the hall's entrance. Marco was sure that he'd be able to get to the hall without making any noise, Star didn't have time to get shoes so she just stood in socks. "Psst Star," she leaned in closer. "we're going to tip toe to the hall entrance, then I'm going to quickly open the door and you dart in, the guards won't see you enter only me. Sound good?"

"But what i—"

He was already going, after being taken by surprise she quickly but silently moved behind him. ' _MARCO!'_ her face screamed, not as if he could even see her, too focused on getting to the door.

Which they did, he looked to her before nodding his head and mouthing, '3' '2' '1' 'Go' – he immediately pulled the door with as much effort as he could muster. The door was awfully large, therefore heavy, but he managed to get it open enough for Star to quickly squeeze in.

The guards turned around, Marco simply looked at them and smiled sheepishly. The defenders accepted it and turned back to their regular watch and started to chat again. Satisfied with the plan Marco entered casually after. "Hey Star I think it—" noticing that Matthew was standing in the middle of the room headed for the door. He stopped in his tracks after seeing Star rush in, followed by Marco a moment later. "Hi Matt! Matt, hi – hey how – what are you doing buddy?"

The higher class man raised one eyebrow and had his mouth slightly open. "I think I should be the one to ask you that."

"Well you see, this is… Starrrrr *Gazing around the room* rrr Appleeeewater… Star Applewater." Even Star gave a 'What the f***?' look to Marco after this, before turning back to Matthew and greeting him.

"Star Butterfly." His jaw dropped slightly while his mind pieced things together.

"Like-"

"Like royal family, Butterfly yes."

"Oh…" He said, left speechless he said the only thing he could think of. "So… You and Marco huh, you guys a thing?" Both coughed harshly at his question, neither one comfortable to talk about that kind of thing.

"No!" They both cried in unison, making them look at each other, uncertainty clouded both their eyes.

"No, we just came her to get here some food - I mean her some food here." Marco stammered out.

"Sure you did. Well, allow me to introduce myself: I'm Matthew Timmings, son of Harold Timmings and heir to Harold's Foot Emporium."

"Pleasure." Star mumbled, her face was looking down – an obvious blush to Matt, he chuckled at it and asked the two if they'd like to grab a seat, they both followed him in silence.

Once sat down, Marco called for a chef to prepare some food, the server happily obliged and walked into the back to tell the chef. "So tell me, you two." Star and Marco looked at Matthew, hoping for not another awkward question: It was. "Where did you two meet? I mean, we've only been here for _one, singular, independent day_." A lot of emphasis was placed on the last four words, he also looked at Marco when saying them.

"We met…" the Diaz looked to the Butterfly.

"In a bedroom!" She blurted out, not thinking of the implications until it already escaped her lips. Marco had wide eyes and could feel blood starting to rush to his head.

"Oh wow, Star sure doesn't like to mince words does she?" His cocky attitude started to appear at this, eyebrows wriggling suggestively at the two.

"Enough! Let's stop it now." Marco suggested, the first word coming out much more aggressively than before.

Matt chuckled at it even more, he loved seeing these two fumble around trying their best to not admit what they feel. ' _I use to think love at first sight was complete crap… Now I'm not too sure.'_ He silently thought to himself while looking at the two.

Eventually, the food came. Star immediately began to chow down, Marco and Matt ordered a glass of water, they had their fill during breakfast. "Oh Marco, have you decided on what you'll do about Ophelia yet?" This had peeked Star's interest too, she hadn't even noticed that Ophelia had taken an interest in the Diaz.

"Ats dish avoot obelea?" Star tried to say, her mouth full of meat at the time. Matt couldn't help but strangely look at her, how could a princess eat so disgracefully?

"She took an interest in me and I think if I wanted to… I could win this thing, maybe change the kingdom for the better if I become king. Or, I can leave it all to fall into an uprising. And I don't know what to do, Ophelia's not a nice person but at the same time maybe I can fix her. Fix this. I don't know."

The other Butterfly took a deep breath, she had spent so long caught up in her own thoughts she forgot about the Choosing. Someone had to be picked, and it was the princess' choice. If she wanted him she could have him, it'd be undisputed.

 _ **5 Minutes Later**_

Star had wolfed down her food, Marco and Matt talked about the upcoming challenges.

Marco needed to prepare for the afternoon, he completely forgot to get a wash after he finished his morning venture so he was becoming a little bit smelly now, he bid the other two adieu and left for his room.

 _ **5 Minutes Later**_

"Hey… Is that Marco's watch?" Matt said as he pointed to a spot on the table that held a gold, diamond encrusted time keeper.

"Oh crap it is, I'll take it to him, can you put my dish away?" She was already out her seat and walking.

"No problem!" He shouted back to her, a smile was plastered on the boy's face.

 _ **Marco's Room**_

When Marco entered, the curtains were closed, it was dark in the room and he remembered how he left Emilia in charge of it when he ran off. However, once he made a step into his room they drew back, overpowering his eyes with the sudden increase in brightness – it took him a moment to see clearly.

When his eyes came to, there was a figure laying down on his bed. More casual clothes were worn by the intruder, however, his eyes were still a little bit out of focus and couldn't make much else out. _Alfonzo? No…_ Things eventually became clearer, _O…phelia?_ His throat seized out once he had realised who was there.

"Welcome home dear." She said, legs bent upwards on his bed, bare leg skin glistening against the warm sun rays. Her front was facing towards his pillow, head turned around. Her brown hair fell crazily around her face contours. She wore a green tank top, a white leaf painted on the front which Marco couldn't see due to her composure. In addition she had abnormally short, navy shorts on.

"We doing this again?" He asked, slightly more annoyed at her second attempt to woo him today.

"Doing what?" She said, putting on her sweet voice again.

"God you are such a-"

"A what? A dirty bitch? A beast in need of taming? What are you gonna do about it?" Her game had evolved from the last time, she was definitely trying to be more seductive here, her language took a far more brute force method, instead of playing coy and using euphemisms. She was going straight for the big guns. However, he had also learned from their last encounter.

"I'm done with your mind games, what do you want? I refuse to believe you're going through all this just to get me. What's underneath I wonder? A girl with a silly little superiority complex?" He had made his way to the end of the bed, she was adjusting her body upright now, slowly climbing off his bed. A slight pissed off look flashed across her face at the mention of her complex.

"I do just want you silly, like you want me. _Right now._ " A sigh escaped his lips, she was slowly making her way over, like a viper – closing in on prey.

"Except I don't want you… Listen, I just want to get washed, you need to leave. Now." His tone was stern, bold like a rock. Unmoving: She loved it.

"I can wash you. I wonder, what are you _hiding_ Marco _?"_ Arms were behind his neck now, dragging his head down to meet hers in an intense battle of who would blink first.

He let out a small chuckle, "Lea-"  
"Marco, I brought your wa-"  
 _Star…  
'No…'_

* * *

 **Notes:** Star just walked in on Marco and Ophelia being awfully close, how will it turn out? Find out next time on The Choosing.

Anyway, sorry - I want to progress but I don't know if I have enough material to continue doing 2-3 chapters per day right now, if you want more chapters, gimme suggestions in reviews or on my twitter - type in 'vKAtFanfic_Net' to find it.

I post regular updates on my twitter, so follow me if you want to keep up to date and read chapters as they go live!

Reviews help my sanity and will to write, been getting a few more recently - big thanks from your support!

Peace~


	8. Broken Promise

**Notes:**

 **AchingHeart2011 -** Glad to hear it :)

 **Marco The Keyblade Master -** I don't know how a prophecy would work in this story, given the fact that it's meant to be a little more realistic, but in this chapter you'll (hopefully) be happy to hear that I included a bit more depth into the 'why' Star was held captive after holding parallels to Eclipsa. More will come in the future, thanks for the advice though :)

 **imhere4svtfoe -** I did set out to create something darker, that dealt with more serious issues and the premise is completely different from the show. It makes it more interesting since you don't know who will betray who, what dark secrets some people hold, the demons that live with others. Oooooo It's exciting!

Other than that, this chapter was a little easier than 7 to write. Still a little pain though, hope you enjoy

* * *

 _Star  
'No…'  
It's not what it looks like!  
'Why…'_

A glance of looks exchanged between the two, no words were uttered but a conversation had taken place. Star stood at the doorway, her arms had given up strength now and the watch slipped out of her grasp, it hit the floor with a loud clink. Marco couldn't do anything but stare at her, a pleading face was all he could form. He knew how it'd end, she'd run off. He'd run after her, Ophelia would win. There was nothing he could do.

"I - erm… I'm sorry." Star collected herself and left the room.

"Star! Wait." Marco cried but he was still caught in Ophelia's arms, "let go." He commanded, she wouldn't move though.

"Why would I move when I just got everything I wanted?" A smile formed on her face as she looked back into Marco's eyes. The pearls that were drowning in lust had been replaced by venomous, cold marbles that swallowed up any light.

"You sick, twisted bitch." He was furious, she had played him and Star as fools. He felt used, all she wanted was for Star to see them like this, to destroy any hopes she had. He broke free now, about to leave the room but turned back, "How the hell did you even set this up?"

"But Marco _honey,_ " she had reverted to her girly voice once more. "How could I have set all this up when I wasn't even in the hall to take your watch off, leave it for Star and bring you up here?"

"Matthew." Marco noted.

"Bingo! You got it." He looked at her with fire in his eyes.

"You and him set it up."

"Oh you're on a roll now aren't you?" The two never broke eye contact, she was pacing herself all around his room by now. He hadn't moved from the doorway, stood like a mountain, bounding her to this room to answer all his questions.

"How did you know I'd even be coming here?" There wasn't a chance in hell that she'd be able to predict his movement to the room.

"Oh ho, wouldn't you like to know?" He didn't reply, just stared at her until she gave in. "Fine, fine I'll tell you. Honestly, I didn't know, me and Matty had an entire plan to concede to. He was meant to find you and tell you to go to your room, but obviously the plan changed. I wanted to be here prepared, so I arrived a little early. I had intended to be in a much more… Revealing outfit, once you arrived but, evidently, I didn't have the time." Maybe Marco should be a little grateful that he arrived early, had she been in whatever slutty outfit she had picked then who knows how Star may have reacted.

"I'll make you pay." He turned for the exit now, about to chase after Star who he heard run off to the stairs, probably to her room. As he was a few feet out the door, he heard Ophelia call from behind him.

"No you won't!" She shouted, a small giggle ensued.

He ignored her and jogged up the stairs, through the hallway and to the dark mahogany door which held Star captive by herself. "Star?" He called, there wasn't an answer. "Please Star come on out, you need to know that it wasn't my choice! It was all Ophelia…" Still no reply. "I'm coming in!" He yelled out, hoping to force her into an answer: It didn't work.

He opened the door and reared his head in, the curtains were let loose, and the entire room laid in a peaceful darkness. A shadow was curled up on the bed, slight sobs were escaping the mound of black. "Hey." He called, slowly making his way over to the bed. "I'm sorry for that. It was all her, you know that, right? I was trying to get her out but –"

"But what?" Star cried, "But you just had to have her arms around your neck to say 'Get out'?" Her voice was hoarse, obviously pained by what she saw. Marco let Star take a minute to breathe, "I know… I know that it was all her, but I…"

Another pause, this time Marco was the first to speak up. "I understand. I'm sorry for letting that continue as long as it did, you know that I'd never do that on purpose to hurt you." That was when she uncurled herself and sat up, glaring at Marco – it was still dark, but he could make out that her eyes were red with soreness, cheeks burning up in a flourish of red and a few strands of her hair were stuck to her face from where the tears dried.

When Marco first found her, he could feel a rage building inside him at River, how he could make her hurt like this. But now, he had gone and done the same – not meaning to of course, but the fact remained that the Diaz had made a girl cry. It struck a chord in Marco's heart and his mood became even further dampened. He went to grab her hand, so he could apologise in a sincere way, but once he grabbed a hold of it, there was a slight warm – wet feeling. He only stared into Star's eyes, to which she looked away in depression. "Star… You didn't… Right?"

 _Silence…_

He dove from the bed and hurried to the curtains, at drawing them he looked back towards Star and saw a very substantial pool of crimson stain her bed, there was a small knife laying on the table next to said bed. And then down her arm, four gentle but non-stopping streams of the fluid fell like a waterfall. Only adding to the pond of blood.

"I'm sorry." She said. He only looked on in horror, "for breaking my promise."

It took his brain a few moments to process, once done he regained awareness and decided on the next task. "We're getting you to a nurse now." He said, looking around for anything he could use to bandage the wound up, he eventually found a white handkerchief with a small wand in the corner. _That'll do._ He moved back to Star and started to apply the bandage, the wound was deeper than he originally thought. "Why." He mumbled under his breath, not even conscious of the fact that he said it.

"It helps me feel alive." She said, eyes still fixated on his fingers moving.

"Yeah? Well after this is all over I promise to show you something else that'll make you feel alive." Both were emotionless at this point; their voices were soft. Another minute passed, a life in poverty gave Marco a great deal of skills, one of which was knot tying. "Right, let's go."

"What if someone says anything?"

"Then they'll deal with me." A lump formed in Star's throat when Marco said this, it wasn't the first time that he had shown an awful lot of consideration for her well-being. But it was the first time that he threatened another human for her, she was slightly happy at it.

Marco lead her out of the room and the two began to walk, her wrist wasn't in good shape. Even though he tied the hanky around it, the blood had no intention of slowing or even stopping. She had lost a lot of blood by now. A soft light glimmered in through the windows, you could see the dust calmly float through the air, until Marco came barging through. "Where's the Nurse's office?" He asked, rearing his head to address her.

"It's on the ground floor, when you get to the dining hall you just keep walking instead of going in and it'll be at the end of the… the uh, corridor." Those were the first signs of Star's body starting to fail. Her mind wasn't receiving enough oxygen from the loss of blood.

"Star hop on." Marco commanded as he lowered his back, inviting her to climb on like a piggy back.

"Marco – I'm not a child! I can walk damn fin-"

"On. Now." There wasn't much point in arguing against him, so with a massive blush and her eyes looking down she picked up her dress and climbed on. Instantly, he set off, moving much quicker than they had been before. It wowed Star at first, she hadn't expected Marco to be able to move so freely given his slender frame, but here he was: Acting like her stallion.

A minute into the expedition, she lost consciousness and became limp on his back. He knew that he had only a few more minutes before things got dangerous.

They passed by Moon on the first floor just a little bit off the dining hall entrance, at first, she was a bit confused as to why Star was on his back but once she saw the blood she knew that the situation was dire. Abandoning any part of her previous mission she joined the two who were heading for the Nurse. "Star?" She called out, her hand was over her mouth, afraid of losing her daughter.

"Don't worry Queen, it's nothing too serious – she's only blacked out. I caught her before it got any worse." It didn't soothe the mother one bit, Marco knew what it was like when his mother lost Rafael. He couldn't imagine what it'd be like to have a threat of losing your daughter. They arrived at the Nurse's office and Moon called out for her, to which she came out – assessing the situation with a computer-like response. She ordered for Star to be laid on a bed and immediately began to take off the improvised bandage, she congratulated Marco on the knot and attempted to comfort Mrs Butterfly while she worked on her daughter's arm. It didn't do much.

The Nurse's name was Annabelle, her hair was red, it was held up in a small bun at the top and her frame was slender, similar to Marco's height but obviously much older than the lad. On looking alone you'd guess her to be in the mid-twenties to early thirties. Her voice was high-pitched, definitely the kind that'd get annoying after a little bit.

 _ **Hour Later**_

Star was resting up on a bed, Moon and Marco sat opposite each other, watching over the Butterfly like two guardian angels. "You really care for her." Marco observed, Moon looked at him disgusted.

"Of course I do. She's my daughter, like I said, I did hold her in the castle. But, the girl didn't deserve this. She's far too good for this world."

"So why did you do it?" Marco asked, curious as to what could've persuaded her. She took a large inhale before responding.

"It was River… Mostly, he said that the citizens wouldn't accept her if she resembled the Dark Queen."

"What was so bad about this Dark Queen that makes you have the need to hold a princess hostage?"

"Queen Eclipsa was normal, at the start. Loved by the people, but… She fell in love with a lower class-man, didn't 'keep the bloodline pure'. She was immediately overthrown by the higher class, and then… Killed. Her and her baby." That part of history had been kept a secret from Marco, they lived in a society where they could easily cut out an entire monarch's reign and no questions would be asked. "As Star became more and more like her indirect predecessor. We made the choice that it'd be worse to have an uproar again, so we adopted a new child and named her heir to the throne. I wasn't fair on Star, but it was the best I could do to keep her safe." Marco would need to spill it someday, he knew that. The fact that River abused Star and her self-harm was caused by him. However, she had just been given news that her sweet little baby had just cut itself, he didn't want to cause her more grief right now.

"But. That must've been hundreds of years ago right? The people have changed, they'd accept Star to be the rightful ruler, you could give her the life she deserves."

"You don't know that." Was the only response he got, Marco asked the Queen to look over Star until she wakes up, and bid her farewell. He had a 'loose end' to tie up.

 _ **Garden**_

The garden was much brighter than it appeared in the morning, flowers were bustling with life and the bees were pollinating in a mad hurry. There was a small pond that laid centre as a landmark in the vast green, some pink lotuses were floating in the water, surrounded by lilies. The sun was beaming down on everything, warming all in sight – but not Marco's rage.

Marco found Matthew talking to a couple other candidates, it was a minute before he spotted him. "Hi Marco!" He called out, no response came from Marco – only a bloodlust that ran deeper than the crimson liquid itself. "Marco…" He said once more, the Diaz was only a few metres away now, it had truly started to frighten the high-class boy. "What's going on with y-"

His sentence had been cut short by a mean right hook the side of Matt's face, it buried itself deep within his muscle and sent the traitor flying into a pond. The water made way for the teen as he splashed into its home, before instantly starting to cover itself back up. That's when Matt jumped out, his clothes were dripping wet, the dark blue suit he wore turned into a near black colour – the brown hair became black and flat on his scalp.

"Who the fuck, do you think you are?!" Marco screamed, toxicity burning itself into each and every syllable.

Matthew looked at him shocked, unable to choke many words out except "Wait." Over and over, Marco was about to deliver another blow but stopped before contact.

"What?" The word wasn't Marco's, it had a spite to it which resembled Ophelia.

"Let's talk! Like normal people, forget all the class division! Let's not resort to violence." Marco didn't seem too intrigued in talking right now, but his better angels dominated over his mental mindscape for a little while. He allowed for Matthew to pull up a chair.

"2 Minutes." He demanded.

Matt was still shaking from the water and his shock, once calmed down a little he began to speak.

"Why did you punch me?"

"You betrayed me, and Star."

"How so? I didn't do anything."

"Ophelia sa-… …"

…

The fist that had once been clenched in a fit of rage loosened, Marco looked into the blue void known as 'sky' and took a deep breath. "I'm sorry Matthew."

"Finally come to your senses, have you?"

"It was Ophelia, she waited for me in my room and had Star watch as she made a move on me… It broke Star's heart and now she's in the Nurse's room. 'Phelia said that you plotted with her against Star." Matthew understood the situation a little more now, Ophelia had tricked Marco and Star and then told him that she was in cahoots with Matt.

"Okay… I accept your apology, she played us all a little in reality." That man was something else to Marco, here the Diaz was – nearly knocking him out just a few moments ago, and the boy had already forgiven him.

"Thank you, Matt." The pavement underneath where Matthew was sitting had been completely painted in dark patches from the dripping water. "Sorry… About that." Marco added, pointing to the floor.

Matthew just laughed, "Water will dry. Now, how will we get her back?" The Diaz had to admit, he liked this Matthew.

* * *

 **Notes:** Like what I did with making Matthew seem like a bad guy but then he's a good guy? I originally intended to make him bad and that be that, but you know how I am with changing my mind :P

Twitter: vKAtFanfic_Net

Review! Gives me motivation to write more, also leave constructive criticism and suggestions if you'd like :)

 _ **HAPPY NEW YEAR! :D**_


	9. Beast Incarnate

**Notes:**

 **allen Vth -** Excellent suggestions! Thank you very much :)

 **imhere4svtfoe -** I wanted the king to always be like this for this story - I don't hate River's character in the cartoon, but I just wanted it to be a breath of fresh air to read in this. Moon is Star's 'friend', she hasn't always been and she has a long way to go before truly reconnecting but it'll hopefully work out. Ophelia could indeed name her husband at any point and let it be over. But I don't think that's in her character, she'll want the maximum amount of time to mess around with people and manipulate everyone - it's a game to her. Everyday updates! I'm actually ahead of that right now, I uploaded 2 in one day twice I think :P

Hope you enjoy this chapter - I'm needing to think a lot more about where I want the story to go so it's been a little slower at the updates but I'm still making 1 a day.

* * *

 _ **Nurse's Office**_

White beds were strung across a long, rectangular room. The atmosphere was hard to describe, it felt clean, fresh, sterile – it felt 'medical' if that makes any sense. A few cupboards were scattered along the upper parts of the room that held things such as: Thermometers, stethoscopes, bandages etc.

On one of these beds, laid a small blonde ball of fluff, the fluff's name was Star. A girl who had been pushed too far and now reaped the consequences, her mother was sitting on a chair next to her, holding Star's left hand in both of her own. The Queen kept composure as any monarch should, not tears were shed but concern was radiating from her body. The small, petite girl had been like this for 30 minutes almost, the bandage on her right arm had become bathed in blood twice, Nurse Annie had replaced her bandage a third time a few minute ago. The blood was much less prominent in the time that it had been on compared to the first few minutes of the first bandage being applied.

It took a while, but Star eventually drifted back into consciousness. A few mumbles were all she managed at first, but given a little more time she eventually forced her eyes to flutter open. The first thing that the little Butterfly saw when her mind was transported back to reality was her mother's face. Looking down on her, a gentle smile fell upon the Queen's face. "Mom?" She choked out, her voice still a little hoarse. The teen tried to prop herself to a sat-up position, only to fall back down like a rag doll.

"You shouldn't move just yet." The Queen said softly. "You lost a lot of blood…" Moon had looked down into her own lap now, unable to make eye contact with her daughter. Aforementioned daughter replicated this movement. It took a whole 2 minutes to dispel the awkward cloud which had formed in the room, neither one wanting to be the first to come forward. However, after Moon cleared her throat she apologised, "I'd like to give my apologies… Star. For being a terrible mother to you." The Queen still hadn't looked at Star in the eyes, she held her head up though now, staring off into the distance as if reading from a teleprompt.

"Was I… A disappointment?" Her mother couldn't believe it. Queen Moon wanted to distance herself as far from Star as possible so that it wouldn't hurt as much, yet she forgot to stop for a minute and think of how that'd make Star view herself. Most of her maturing years she had spent with neglect and being reminded every day that her and River didn't care for her or want her. A large pocket of air made Moon unable to respond to the question for some time, stuck in shock.

"No… You weren't a disappointment, it was my inability to save you from River's concerns that led to your imprisonment… Like I said, I was the terrible mother for sentencing you without trying to help you." Moon had taken a hold of Star's hand once more, in need of some comfort as her hands were trembling.

Star could feel her mother's pain and felt confused, for as long as she could remember her mother had been comparing her to Ophelia. The little Butterfly wasn't used to this kind of emotion shown towards her, everyone else always felt so far away and out-of-reach. But it seemed to be that when Marco showed up, all of that vanished, he made her mother – who hadn't spoken to her like this in more than half a decade – apologise to her. Ophelia who was always a bitch – and still is, now has a second opponent, not just Star. It made her realise that when he came into her life, it all changed.

 _Thanks Marco_

 _ **Garden**_

Matt had a servant bring him a towel to dry his hair, not wanting to catch a cold. Whilst waiting and afterwards, all they talked about was how to best make Ophelia pay. It could've been anything: Blackmail, Mind Games, Framing… It all boiled down to what they'd have the highest chance at success with. Had they attempted to blackmail her, it was obvious that even getting any dirt on her would've been a ginormous task even in of itself. Mind games would've been fun an' all, get her back with her own tactic – but could they really pull it off? She clearly had a lot of experience when it came to manipulation and scheming, they doubted that either one of them could pull it off. Framing her seemed like a logical conclusion, but even so, framing a princess? One misstep, one wrong head overhearing them, and they'd be executed. Or worse.

"This is a little harder than we thought, eh?" Matthew asked, grinding the towel into his hair, making it become slightly spiky during the process. "Think we could use Star?" Marco gave him a questioning look before sternly replying.

"No. Absolutely not, I can't drag her into a revenge plot." His face was adamant about it, but Matthew didn't want to give in to it.

"We could try and win over the people with her, she's the rightful heiress, they'd fight for her. If she could win us both over in 20 minutes, I'll bet she could do the same to the kingdom."

Marco pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath, "It's too risky, getting revenge on one girl is one thing… But you're talking of overthrowing the entire monarchy. Undermining all that had been set up."

"Maybe it's time for change!" Matt cried, "Look around you! All this, it isn't real, it's make belief. Us! We're forced to come to the capital and marry a princess none of us even know well. That's not right, while people are dying of starvation out there, we in here are eating like kings. I've always dreamt of changing this world for the better, with you, Alfonzo and Star we can win, not in strength but other ways."

"What you're saying, is that four 16-year olds are going to tear down a country and rebuild it, Correct?" Matt looked around for a moment, moving his tongue around his mouth before starting again.

"Yeah. It sounds insane when you see it like that but when you think –"

"No. We aren't here to overthrow a country. Besides, Star would never agree to something so-"

"Let her decide then." Marco had realised when he said the last clause of his sentence that Matt would likely pick up on it and challenge him to let Star decide what she wants to do. And now his hands were tied, if he denied Matthew then he'd be announcing that he hadn't any faith in Star. Had he accepted then it could honestly go either way, with what mental state Star's in now she could very well want to end this kingdom.

Mr Diaz conceded, "Fine."

 _ **Nurse's Office**_

"The bleeding has seemed to have stopped now. Try not to strain your arm too much over the next two weeks or it may reopen. Keep coming to see me everyday to change your bandage too, it'd be bad if that thing developed an infection." Star's body was more or less back to normal, she could sit upright and most of her strength had returned. Her mother was still sitting by her side.

"Thank you, Annabelle." Queen Moon said, the Nurse humbly bowed her head before returning to crushing up some herbs in a mortar & pestle. On timing once again, a servant peaked in through the door, addressing Moon.

"Your majesty, King River has requested you in his study." At the mention of this request, Star had noticed shock pass through her mother's face, she took a moment to respond but understood and left immediately. _'Wonder what that was about…'_ When Moon left, Star climbed out of the bed and started to leave, she was about to pass by the Hall's entrance when she heard steps coming from the entrance to the garden. Turning around, she was greeted by Marco & Matt who looked up.

"Star!" Marco cried with glee, "You're alright!" He went in for a hug, she hadn't been hugged in a long time and didn't really accept it – she just sort of let it happen. He backed off after a few seconds, realising the uncomfortableness of the hug.

"Hi Matt." Star said, now taking note of his presence.

"Hello Princess." He replied, "If you don't mind… I'd like to cut straight to business, is there any place we can speak private?"

 _ **Marco's Room**_

"Why my room?" Marco complained, laying on his bed.

"Stop whining." Ordered Star as she took up refuge on a small chair in the corner. Matt remained standing. "So, what is it you want to talk about?" Matt and Marco looked at each other for a moment.

"Matt, wants to start a coup." Marco said bluntly, Star raised a questioning eyebrow to Matt who was currently leaned against the wall. He just nodded in reply.

"No, why would I want that?" Star replied.

"That's what I said…" Marco casually responded. They both looked towards Matt who pushed himself from the wall and raised his hands in defence.

"Alright, alright! No coup, that's fine. We'll stick to revenge on Ophelia for now." That was a plan that everyone could get behind, but their first step was to set in on what they wanted to do. Marco and Matt explained the three options they resulted to, and asked if Star had any ideas on more options.

She hmmm'd for a minute before speaking, "I don't have any other ideas, but if it's blackmail you want. I know something." Both raised up at this, Marco positioned himself upright and Matt snapped his head towards Star. "I think I'm the only one that knows this so far, but Ophelia has been spending time with a boy from the local town called 'Markus'. I don't know his last name, one of my associates said that they have been very… intimate. To say the least." Marco began to nod his head before noticing something about what she just said.

"You have associates?!" He cried, to which she looked at him and one of Ophelia's infamous smiles smirked its way onto her face.

"A princess has her secrets."

That was when Matthew interjected, "So if we want to use this. To really damage her, what would we have to do?"

"Well… I suppose a confession from him would be good, from what I hear he's a bit of a bad boy. The kind that may just go bragging about sleeping with a princess. But you'd have to get him to talk somehow."

"I know how." Marco pinned on at the end.

"And… I suppose that'd mean that we'd have to go to the town ourselves, but… I doubt we could get past Ophelia and my father missing us for a few hours." It had a dilemma alright. But Matthew stepped up to take one for the team.

"I can keep Ophelia occupied for a few hours." Marco, having spent the most ' _intimate'_ time with Ophelia out of all three of them thanked Matt gratefully and apologised for what he'd probably endure when trying to keep her under control.

"My mother can probably keep my father busy while we execute the plan." Star added, it made sense for a wife to be able to keep her husband's attention for at least a few hours while they made their errand. But it slightly worried Star as she knew how her father could be if he didn't get his way – and the look that Moon wore when she left was one that Star recognised all too well. It was the same one that she'd wear if called upon by her dad.

It seemed as if the three had a plan of action, it was rough. It was unlikely to work, and if it didn't it'd most likely result in Star's permanent abuse for life and the arrest/hanging of the other two for conspiracy against the in-line princess. Marco looked at his watch, _5PM?! Where did the time go?_ "Hey Matt, we need to get going – dinner just started." Matthew looked at the watch he was wearing, he didn't receive one in his room – instead he was just using his father's old watch. It had a brown strap and a steel case surrounding the inner workings.

"Oh crap, we need to get going!" The two darted up and opened the door in a mad fury.

"See ya later Star!" Marco shouted back before the two ran like lightning towards the curling staircase.

 _ **Dining Hall**_

5:03PM.

Luckily the two had made it just as the rest of the candidates were walking in, apparently, they received a small speech out front before walking in. But the two schemers missed it. Al saw them rush in and slowly inched his way through the small crowd to them. "Where were you guys?" He asked, eyes still looking forward.

"We had, uh—a meeting about… Horses." Marco blurted out the first thing that he could think of when it came to royal duties. Alfonzo broke his line of sight for a moment to turn to Marco with a non-believing look. It didn't last too long though because every Chosen stopped in their tracks like last time. Unlike last time, Marco hadn't accidentally walked into anyone: He was learning.

The meal this time was a lot more modest than the banquet they had yesterday. A simple three-course meal containing of a Starter, Main and Dessert. The trio of friends ate the food like regular high-class men, but imagine them then speeding up by 2.5x. Technically speaking there wasn't anything wrong with the way in which they ate, but it was strange to see them eat so quickly.

Once they had finished, they began to silently chat – they hadn't wanted to include Al in on the plan. It was very need-to-know and they had all the necessary personnel to complete it. If he knew it'd only allow him to be accused of treason. "Hey Marco, River isn't up there." Matt lightly nodded his head towards the main seating, once Marco glanced up he noticed that indeed River wasn't present in the hall. Yet, he also spotted a slight blue tinge on Moon's cheek, one that could be mistaken as some soft light just hitting her in a strange way. The teen knew better though, if Moon was called to River, now Moon has a 'bruise' on her cheek, and he isn't present at dinner. He added the pieces together and realised that he had to go check on her, he stood up and presented himself to the royalties. "Excuse me your greatness's, I'm afraid I need to _freshen_ up." He greatly emphasised the 'freshen', hoping that the Queen would understand: She did.

"You may leave." The Queen accepted his request.

 _ **Star's Room**_

The door unclicked, Star was chilling on her bed by now. "Hey, I was thinking about the-" That was when she realised who was standing in the doorway. A gruff, blonde old man. A face that could burn its way onto steel laid before her – eyes that shared no sympathy or care, only rage penetrated into Star's mind.

"What do you think you're doing?" He spoke with no venom, not spite – but with a voice that could get a lion to cower in fear. It was direct, protruding, it oozed both confidence and authority.

"I was-"

"You were staying in your room and doing nothing, right?" Despite the questions that he used, there wasn't an answer you could give which would satisfy him, once he stared into your eyes he could sum you up in a word or less. ' _Pathetic'._ The man was a beast incarnate, you could tell why he chose Ophelia to be his successor, she hadn't the same aura around her yet – but given a chance. That girl could easily ascend to the level at which this mountain stood. "Next time, I see – or hear a peep from you or your activities. I will be back here, standing in this doorway; I won't just stop at the doorway, I will come right up to you, stare at you. And then break you." A moment passed by, uneasiness couldn't describe the atmosphere, nor could cold. There wasn't an atmosphere, whatever this man was he wasn't human. Forget dispelling an awkward cloud, this man sucked whatever emotion didn't fall in line with his own from the air. "Understood?"

"Y-yes si-sir." She looked at his feet. He left, closing the door with a quiet click and then descended into a symphony of *thumps* until he gradually faded out.

* * *

 **Notes:**

I forgot to check for spellings :P Oops, I'm only human alright, and I can't because I'm too lazy tonight :P And I wanted to get it out for you ASAP.

Twitter: vKAtFanfic_Net

Review! Praise, constructive criticism, suggestions - all is welcomed!

Peace~


	10. Three Hours

_**Hey! It's been a while... I know.**_

I'm the worst, and to be honest I don't have any excuse for it other than: College built up in work, I'm finding Physics and Chemistry a bit easier to get through now, it's mostly revision but Maths is a tremendous pain. I suck at it! The other reason was that I burnt myself out of writing, I said it would happen at some point, can't remember if it was this story or not. But it happened :( I dislike myself for it and I'm sorry.

STVFOE season 3 just came to a close. To me it feels like all the endings are just mid-season finales and it's so infuriating to have to wait for more! Luckily, I heard it's already been confirmed for late July-Early August. Also, I don't know if I'll be able to quickly pump out chapters like I did before, I started work on this one on Saturday 7th April and it's now the 9th, I found it hard to get back into it but managed to get in the mood and do an extra 1200 words today. Anyhoo, onto the reviews!

 **zeldex72 -** I always hated it when authors burnt out and stopped a fanfic. Guess it's a lot harder than it seems :P I'm back, don't know if I'll end up doing more quickly. But I really want to finish this story! Believe me.

 **Izaya -** Hehehe, I tried to go for a darker feel. Don't know how well I've kept the story in this chapter. It's been over 3 months since I've touched it, I couldn't even remember Matt's name when I started! XD Hopefully I'll get into it soon.

 **Annabeth23456 -** Thank you :)

 **Darth Becky 726 -** Klingon? Who was I describing? I haven't ever seen Star Trek so I don't even know what I was thinking at that time :P

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 _ **Staircase**_

Marco had just left the dining hall and began to roam upwards, in search of Star's room, fear had started to swell in his body. Who knows what he would find once he reached the upper floor, the worst-case scenarios started to tug at him from the back of his mind. He hadn't the time to think about such things and so he shook it out of his head, unbeknownst to him he had accidentally let his senses become dull while trapped in his head. A loud thud roped him back to reality as he simply looked up from the stairs to meet a dagger in the eye. A beast with a looming shadow of death stood before him, lips closed: cracked, arms were clasped together behind his back. "What are you doing here, boy?" A lump formed in Marco's throat, he'd never forget this feeling of impeding doom, the sense that a deer would feel before being pounced on by a lion.

"freshen—I had to freshen up." The Diaz's mouth had barely moved an inch while choking out the brief clause. The King may have had a muscular physique but his mind wasn't nearly as sharp, he had accepted Marco's fragile excuse and proceeded to move downwards, ignoring Marco and barging straight past him. The Diaz began to move again shortly after and calmly walked upwards before starting into a quick pace once he was out of ear-range of River.

 _ **Star's Room**_

 _*THUD THUD THUD*_ Came the knock at the door, Star winced at the idea of her father waiting for he on the outside of the door. In fear of what would happen when he pushed his way through the oak door. "Star?" Marco whispered through the hinges, "Star?" He repeated once more, praying for any response at all from the princess. Said princess had perked up at this, she was previously hugging her pillow, sat in the corner of her bed with her head buried deep into the smooth silk cover. Now she looked up to the door and replied solemnly.

"Marco?" The male teen was familiar with this tone, broken and shaky. _God dammit, I was too late._

"Star, can I come in?" Miss Butterfly slowly approached the door, trying her best to get her confidence up. She had thought that she would be able to stand up to her father this time: She was wrong.

"I'm sorry." She stumbled, the door currently was unlocked and Marco quietly tip-toed into the room.

"You've been saying that a lot." He replied, his head was hung low but his eyes were fixated on her.

She had ignored his remark and continued, "I thought I'd be fine. But, in the end I couldn't do anything. I could only sit there."

"Yes, you did." For the first time in their conversation, Star's eyes had met Marco's, confusion dwelled within the pearls. "But, had you stood up to him. Who knows what might have happened? Maybe he would've beaten you, or killed you, not as if anyone would've been able to stop him." Marco might've been trying to make Star feel better and play it cool, but hatred filled him due to the realisation that she could've died. "Get up." Said Marco sternly. He reached out for Star's sweaty palm and she focused her gaze once more, accepting the invitation she rose to meet him.

"Why?" She said followed by a slight cough at the end.

"We're going tonight." The butterfly's eyes had widened at the announcement.

"We-we planned for tomorrow." She had snatched her hand away and tried to mimic some sort of weird shapes with her hands, probably a means of calming herself down.

"We're going tonight." He repeated once more, the boy's eyes had hardened – protruding the princess' eyes with a stare that had probably just over half the intensity that River held. It was pointless to try and convince the Diaz otherwise, by now he had fully prepared himself mentally to go through with it. The anger that laid dormant in his body had shown signs of emerging when he had encountered Ophelia, Matt and River. However, he had always been unsure of himself before, this subconscious barrier had held him from being assertive in his actions. He only had to convince Matt to keep Ophelia busy tonight.

 _ **Dining Hall – Entrance**_

The conversation between Marco and Star had only lasted a few minutes maximum, although, it felt as if the future was decided in that moment. A new era had begun to spring forth and Marco would ride that wave to the end, no matter how bitter it is.

 _ **Dining Hall**_

The left massive door was currently open, the right one laid closed – it was unnecessary to leave two to of them open, it would have only let more of a draft through. The teen made his way slowly to the area before the royals and knelt on one knee. "Pardon for the intrusion." He spoke with a newfound confidence. The King was now sitting in the centre seat.

"Forgiven." River replied nonchalantly while holding his glass out for another batch of wine to be poured. Moon was sitting with both hands in her lap, Marco gave her a quick glance – the kind that would mostly go unnoticed unless you were paying attention for it. Luckily, she was, the message itself wasn't anything particular. A simple gaze to say 'I need to have a word with you after.'

The boy walked over next to Matt again and sat down, proceeding to eat the dessert which had just been swapped for his plate along with all other Chosen. The Diaz kept a straight face while talking, he didn't move his eyes, "Matt." Aforementioned lad perked up, "We're going tonight."

"I'll take care of _her_." Matt didn't require much convincing, he was the kind of guy that'd be ready to go into a fight had you given him 10 seconds notice.

"What are you guys talking about?" Al asked innocently.

"Al, if this works out we'll tell you – but if it doesn't there's a 99.9% chance that we're all going to be executed. I'd rather you not go down too."

"The hell? You're planning to risk everything and not involve me? I thought we were friends." Alfonzo's head was about halfway across the table at this point.

"We can talk more later." Marco stated before motioning for Al to hush, not wanting any others to overhear their conversation.

Once the dinner had been cleared, Marco and co headed for their respective rooms. "Hey, you two," Al called as he chased behind them, "what's this I hear about being executed?" His concern was evident in both gestures and tone. Queen Moon had left during the closing speech by the servants.

"We can discuss it later, I just ate!" Marco jokingly replied as he hurried away to his own personal quarters. Matt was soon to follow leaving Alfonzo standing outside the dining hall's partially opened doors to state in curiosity and worry.

After the duo had escaped Al's onlooking eyes, they both started to converse – "We're going tonight?"

"Yeah."

"I thought the plan was for tomorrow." Matthew was slightly lagging behind Marco, struggling to keep up.

"We don't have the luxury of waiting longer. We're taking Ophelia down tonight." Eventually, they had hit the floor that housed them for the time being and Matt caught up to Marco's stride, although when he looked for his newfound friend he only found eyes of calm rage. The kind that an assassin holds before they strike for a kill.

The two approached Marco's room and slowly unlocked it, they had arrived to find that a few of the lamps in the room had already been lit. A royal was sitting in one of the chairs that laid in the corner: Moon. "Queen Moon," both exclaimed in unison, she was never one for formalities, however, the castle made sure to reinforce on the first day that they were welcomed as an extended family for their time here. "To what do we owe the pleasure?" Matt continued.

"Let's skip that chit-chat, what do you need from me?" Straight to business, the old Marco may have been taken aback by this sudden boldness: The current Marco was _not_ the old Diaz.

"Sorry to ask of this Queen," he began, "but I'm going to need you to keep River distracted for a few hours tonight." A soft glow lit all of their faces, Marco was stood 2 steps in front of Matt, Queen Moon was about 2 metres opposite Marco – a green, velvety chair had encompassed her frame.

"Do I need to know why?" Mrs Butterfly had been staring into the ground for a while now, but she had raised her head to directly address Marco.

"Not really, but I'll tell you it involves Ophelia… Need anymore?"

… A long pause had enclosed the room into an ominous aura, all minds were ticking away with their own conclusions and suspicions. _Ah crap, what if she doesn't take it? We don't have a backup for keeping River busy, yeah, she might dislike her husband and second '_ _ **daughter**_ _' but that'd be no reason for her to want the girl to go down in flames._

' _Marco! You're being way to direct, I know you might be pissed off but this is a bit aggressive don't you think!?'_ Matt was being honest, for some reason the Diaz had been far more reckless today than all of his life combined.

…

"How many hours?" - _SHE TOOK IT!_ Screamed the primary teen in his head. A barely audible – at least to the Queen's aged ears – sigh escaped from Matt's throat.

"Three. If possible, as long as possible really. Three would be the maximum we'd need." The town was only about a 30-minute walk from the gates, if he and Star hurried they could probably make it in 15-20 minutes. Excess of 2 hours would be plenty of time to find the bar and get the confession…

…

 _Wait._

…

 _How am I going to get the confession? I can't keep a record of his voice… Or can I? There were those new 'audiographs?' I think they're called, but they're ridiculously expensive. Who would have on—_

"Moon," Marco cheekily tagged on at the end.

"Yes?" She replied.

"One more thing, would you happen to have one of those audiographs within the castle?"

"We have a few, why?" She had dragged the 'y' on for some time.

"May I borrow one for something?" It took her a second to respond, probably a bit frustrated that at the audacity of the young boy.

"I'll have a servant deliver one to your room within the hour."

"Thanks Queen Moon." Matt and Marco stated in unison once more. * **6:30** **PM** *

 _ **6:53PM – Marco's Room**_

Moon and Matthew left for their own jobs to complete a little while ago. Leaving Marco alone in his room, once the audio-*Knock knock* Speak of the devil.

Marco dove up from his bed to jog to the door when he opened it with a casual swing, "Hi Em, you brought the thing?" The personal assistant looked at him blankly.

"I don't know what on Earth you'll be using this for but here." Her hands reached out to hand deliver the parcel, the teen gratefully accepted – it was about a third of the size of a gramophone and held a little keycard-like thing in it. It used a hole puncher to store imprint graves and bumps in the card, this allowed for playback – close to the original sound. A new piece of technology that only came to public view about 3 months ago. Not as if anyone that lived near Marco could afford one. They weren't very good for storing music, the cards weren't massive at all given the size of the thing – but they were excellent for recording small conversation: Perfect for what he needed.

"Thanks a bunch, Em! You really are the best!" He shouted back to her as he darted out his room and left for the staircase. _'Is he going up? That's where the royals live!'_ Emilia was in hot pursuit of the teen.

 _ **Upper Floor**_

Once Emilia had locked the Diaz's room and carefully jogged up the stairs, not wanting to be spotted herself as only a few selected servants were permitted to be up here. She gazed around for a moment before giving up figuring that he probably had some reason to be up here. ' _I don't get paid enough for this.'_ Was her last thought before she grabbed a hold of the railing and proceeded down the stairs.

 _ **Star's Room – 10 Seconds Previously**_

"Star, psst! Open up!" Marco silently pleaded while standing outside the princess' housing. A few seconds went by smoothly and then Marco heard footsteps coming up the stairs to his right. "Star hurry!" He pleaded once more, that was when the door fell through and he collapsed onto the young princess. The door had been left open but luckily the fall wasn't too noisy considering there was a carpet.

The teens practically froze, Marco because he didn't know who was coming up those stairs, what if they came over here and saw this?! All of it would be ruined! Star was frozen because of something else… Namely, _someone_ else.

* * *

 _ **Ending Notes:**_

I probably could've wrote more, but I have a physics test tomorrow and I need to revise. Also, I didn't want to make a massive chapter here and then completely forget about the next ' _part'_

I think I've lost track of what day we're on right now, I remember that I was trying to time it out all realistically but I forgot :P

 _ **Review! It helps me know you're still interested, leave constructive criticism or praise, whichever is fine and anything else is fine too! Peace~**_


	11. Freedom!

Wow! I got a lot of publicity on my last upload, really inspired me to make another one so soon. Thanks everyone for reading and reviewing, I suppose it's because season 3 recently wrapped up and everyone's looking to consume more SVTFoE content :P

 **Chompions -** My last update... Hmm, well going based off the reviews I got for Chapter 9 - I'd say about January 2nd was my last update before Chapter 10. And you'll be pleased to know it came out sooner than later :D

 **Firefighter16 -** Thanks! I wanted to do something that wasn't normal. I based this fanfic off another fanfic that was in another fandom, which was based off a book called 'The Selection'. I haven't read that book so I can't relate what I've done to it, but I've used similar premises at the start that are used in another fanfic by, I think, the same name. Check it out if you want, it was a HTTYD fanfic.

 **bolightning -** Much obliged :)

Without further delay,

 **Enjoy!~**

* * *

 _ **Star's Room**_

The two brushed themselves off quickly once they realised that no one was heading their way, Marco leapt up and close the door – making sure to lock it. Star turned around and headed for her bed once more; face bright red with embarrassment. "That was close." Marco released a sigh of relief, the Butterfly repeatedly nodded her head in agreement, still refusing to face the other teen. A moment passed by before their conversation had restarted.

"So, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" Marco, who had currently been sitting on her desk chair snapped back to reality.

"Ah yeah! This." He said as he lifted up the audiograph.

"That's how you plan to record it?" She asked, the flush in her cheeks started to drain away as the situation once again dawned on the young princess.

"Yes…" He started before pausing for a minute, "But, we need to leave. Like, right now."

"We're going already?" She asked, starting to panic a little since she didn't prepare herself at all. "I-I I need to change first. Get into clothes other than this!" She finished as she pointed down to gesture towards her attire, it was a modest blue dress that had small frills coming over the shoulders – a little octopus laid centre on her chest.

"Star, the plan is already in motion!" He had wanted to continue the argument but that would've just wasted more time than they had, so he decided to leave it at that. *Sigh* "Just quickly change then, I'll go grab some more comfortable clothes from my room. We'll meet at the centre of the garden in 10 minutes." The Butterfly happily accepted the much required time to change and left Marco to bolt out of her room.

 _ **Marco's Room**_

 _I should still have my old hoodie somewhere in my suitcase._ The boy began to rummage around his belongings before finding a white t-shirt, dark brown jeans, casual shoes and his red hoodie that he had such fond memories with. It had been with him a while, _it should be a bit tattered but it'll do—wait…_ As the teen lifted his hoodie out of the bag he had noticed that all of the little nicks and frills that had emerged throughout time had been stitched together and/or burnt off. Granted, it was far from looking new, but it was second-hand when he purchased it: It looked better than it did back then.

"Emilia," he muttered underneath his breath. A small smile forming on his lips at the sincerity of his assistant.

 _ **Star's Room**_

Star had originally said that she needed to change, but honestly, she just wanted to get some time alone after the little ' _incident_ ' that had occurred. _He was so close, like right on top of me. On top of me, I could feel the heat from his body, and his breath tickled my neck._ The teenage girl was attempting to comfort her burning face with sweaty palms; she tried to give her legs a break from standing, but it wasn't much use. Her body was squirming in both excitement and embarrassment, unsure as to what she was feeling, the girl just ripped open her wardrobe and began to change. It would've been weird if she turned up in the same clothes.

The heat on her face died down a little from the air pressure created by the swift movement of clothing escaping her body's atmosphere. It wasn't enough to completely dispel the temperature, but it was enough that the biting cold air outside would be enough to finish the job.

Star had swapped into a light green t-shirt that rolled up slightly along the tops of the arms. Blue jeans that had a small 'copper' button on the waist, the button itself had been scratched over time. Cute little green shoes had encapsulated her small feet, they weren't anything special – a white lace wrapped itself around the footwear, weaving in and out a dozen times or so.

That was when the princess had noticed that her cuts on her arms were showing, not wanting to draw much attention to herself she grabbed something from the back of her wardrobe. A green hoodie that was one-size too big for her, it was a birthday present from Glossaryck a few years ago, it had always been too big for her but it made her unbelievably happy then: Even now. The size was only a little bigger than her now, the arms drooped a little and it looked like she was a twig underneath, but it would've been better for people to think she was weak than someone who self-harmed.

 _Oh, one more thing!_ She thought to herself before dashing to her desk and looking through the second drawer for her iconic purse. _Complete! Now to find Marco._

The Princess had her own means of manoeuvring around the castle, she couldn't be seen by just anyone so she had to find her own method. Luckily, in her room was a painting of an old queen, it could be easily moved and behind was a massive hole that turned into a cave of tunnels somewhere down the line. To any ordinary person it would feel like a labyrinth but Star had a fairly good grasp of where she was going – _The Garden huh? I think the closest exit would be the storage shed…_

 _ **Garden – Centre**_

The Diaz had been waiting for about 6 minutes, _Come on Star you're 4 minutes late._

The garden took on a new form at night, the bushes danced with a quiet symphony. Not many places of lighting were found outside, a few lamps were the best you could hope for – it was barely enough to see what 5 metres in front of you was. The boy turned to his left and spotted the Castle again, he hadn't seen it from this perspective yet but it was breath-taking. White marble was glistening against the full-moon's bright light, all windows were illuminated by a warming glow that almost sucked in all the bad things.

He had to stay focused: River lived there. That mad man and child lived there. Like pathogens invading a foreign host, wreaking havoc behind the scenes. "Marco?" He heard a whisper-shout again, this time coming from behind him. The teen had been stood just past the water fountain, when he looked behind over his left shoulder he could see the shape of Star's body shimmer through the falling water.

It was the first time that Marco had ever seen Star outside of any formal wear, she looked rather cute in her too-big hoodie and loose jeans. The girl had the hood up to not draw any attention, only a curl had escaped the dark chasm, it fell gently over her left eye; she had to blow it out the way with a low *puff*.

Both of the unlucky teens smiled at one another for a brief moment before Marco initiated and walked over to her. He took a gulp before starting his explanation, "Matthew said he saw a small opening in the fence that we could fit through in the left corner of the garden. We're going to have to hurry though, we've already lost 20 minutes."

"Roger!" She cries back saluting her commander, Marco was already past Star at this point so she couldn't see his face, but another small crack of a smile began to emerge on his face.

 _ **Fence's Hole**_

"There it is." Marco stated as he approached a small bush that when moved out of the way slightly revealed a small breakthrough in the impenetrable prison, almost as if it were created entirely for the purpose of escaping. It was roughly 1.5m*1.5m wide, enough for any normal teen to fit through given that they crouched a little. There shouldn't be too much dirt on their clothes – it hadn't rained at all today or yesterday so it was mostly dusty dirt. Both of them crouched down and managed to slip their way out of the asylum.

"Freedom!" Star shouted and raised her arms in the air in a 'V' shape.

"Shhh!" Marco cried putting his hand over her mouth, once again pleading her – this time to be quiet so that they don't immediately get spotted. Although they had escaped, the duo was still in a close proximity to the castle. After a moment she calmed down and the Diaz continued, "we need to head that direction." He pointed to the frontside of the castle, to some it may seem like it was counter-productive to get out the back just to go around to the front but they would've been spotted had they tried the front gates. And there was probably not an escape route there anyway.

The two remained mostly in the forest that surrounded the castle, they didn't want to draw any attention. It was fortunate that there were no spotlights or high security surrounding the walls, otherwise escaping to the town would've been a much taller order.

At the point where the two teens were out of ear-range of any dogs guarding, they began to jog a little more – wanting to make the most out of their time in the village/town 'Hamschmert'.

It wasn't the first time that Star had been out of the castle, before the 'lock-up' she'd regularly come down to visit the villagers, she'd also attend any sort of summoning with her parents. However she vaguely remembers them, they were mostly boring with the adults just drinking wine and chatting about politics.

 _ **Hamschmert**_

The sky had turned into a dark, silky blue – littered with small sparkles that rained down light upon the world, a massive bulb of white rock floated in the never-ending spectacle known as space. As the two approached the village they noticed that the main road was brightly lit and symmetrical, street lights filled up the sidewalks. Speaking of, the aforementioned paths were paved with different tints of cobblestone, some were cracked from years of abuse, others had been replaced and eventually – the entire street would be new.

As Marco and Star approached the village, they began to hear the cheers of drunken men. Given that the village was so close to the castle, it was a popular spot for any off-duty guards, meaning that they had money. It was unlikely that anyone would recognise Star given that they never had anything to do in the royal quarters.

They walked next to a drunk that had passed out from presumably drinking too much. _Jeez it's only 7:23PM, what a light weight._ Marco silently thought to himself. On the other hand, Star kept a concerned eye on the man while they were walking up to him and walking away from him. "Star, which pub was it?"

A small giggle escaped the girl.

"Yeah… See. Problem is… I don't know." _Oh… Great, so we're in a village – that neither of us particularly know well and we don't even know where to find the kid. Does she have any idea how many pubs are in a village?!_

"We only have til 10PM to get back." The boy states, slightly annoyed that we came all this way and forgot to find out what bar Markus was in. Worst case scenario they might not even find him.

"Well we won't get anywhere by standing around." Butterfly replied with a smile still wide on her face. "Let's go ask around."

They proceed to walk around the town for a while, taking in the aroma of fast-food being cooked on BBQs and such, the smell of pies and steaks that flow from the local restaurants aren't anything like the food in the castle. But they felt more homely to Star than her place ever could.

The two decided to ask the first person they saw about 'Markus'. "Excuse me." Marco attempted to stop a young woman, she just ignored him and kept drinking her beverage. Next, Star tried the same thing to a teen about their age, once again – no response, it was just a 'Am I meant to know that guy?'

Finally, they stopped off outside a bar where a boy was having a cigarette "Excuse me." Marco started, the boy looked up and put his cig out on the brick wall next to him, waiting for him to continue "Do you know a boy called 'Markus'?"

"Who's askin'?" The other teen replied. He spoke with a slur to his words, he dragged on the 's's on his words a little longer than normal.

"Uh," the duo looked at each other for advice. For all their planning they didn't really come up with what they were going to say to him. "We're from the palace, we're friends with Ophelia – she said you two…" Marco leaned in closer, "were 'intimate'. But we don't believe her at all, so we came to ask you directly." The kid, grew a grin at the word 'intimate'.

"Let's talk inside, shall we?" The boy gestured to the bar behind him, "May I ask yours twos names?"

"I'm Marco."

"Star... Catepillar." She quickly added on.

"Pleasure ta meet ya, names Markus Lucitor."

* * *

 **End Notes:**

How was it? Good? Bad? Okay? I put in that slang in there because I was thinking what kind of character I wanted Markus to be and I just thought of him smoking a cigarette outside a bar would be a decent introduction to him. Really set off the bad boy vibe, I always try to mix up words and don't repeat 'Marco this, Marco that, Marco, Marco, Marco :P' So I thought using a bit of slang would be alright.

 **Review!** Whether you say it's good, bad or whatever is welcome! Constructive criticism, hit me with it! **Any Suggestions?** Put them in there too, I always read them :)

 **See ya later,**

 **vK~**


	12. Confession

**Heyo! It's Me!**

There's not much to add for this one to be honest. It's a little shorter but that's just because I'm tired and I wanted to leave it at the point I left it.

 **Reviews:  
**

 **343 -** Execution hmm? Well, I don't even have this entire thing planned out to be honest, I'm just going with the flow and listening to you guys. Don't worry though, I'll think of something to do with the King.

 **bolightning -** Thank you 3

 **Guest (Chapter 11, April 11th) -** O dam indeed my boy!

* * *

 _ **Old Crumbs Tavern**_

The brightly lit interior contrasted with the darkened outside, it had taken Marco and Star a few moments to adjust to the light. Markus was leading them through the main doors and towards a specific room that laid just left of the main bar, "Hey Mark, who are these chumps?" A lady currently behind the bar asked the duo's tour guide. She had medium-long, roughed up chestnut hair. It looked as if she hadn't stopped running around since the early morning. The Ms also had some emerald-green coloured eyes that radiated youth, she looked around early to mid-twenties.

She was currently halfway through cleaning out one of the mead jugs, it wasn't a problem that the jugs weren't cleaned out mid-way through a night earlier in the bar's life. But as the drunkards got more and more frequent in the bar – as did the collisions between aforementioned drunks. This meant that the glasses would usually get smashed and so the bar maid and staff had to keep cleaning the same beverage-holders.

 _It smells like old beer has soaked up into all the wallpaper…_ Marco silently thought to himself while looking around at the randomness that engulfed him: Some were playing games like blackjack or poker, others were passed out on one of the tables and being drawn on by their 'friends'.

"A couple pals from work." The Lucitor replied with nonchalance, he pronounced 'work' as 'werk'.

"Ya betta not mess up that room ya'ear?" She shouted back, Mark and Marco had already entered the room, Star was the last one to enter. It was fairly dark in there, it had taken a minute for Markus to reach one of the lamps and switch it on. Once illuminated, it was easier to make out features of the room. As Star was walking into the room, she noticed that a wooden desk was on her right in the corner, one leg was slightly raised that the others that would create a wobbly sensation when writing on it.

A similar chair was in front of the broken-down desk, it had scorch marks all throughout the wood. It would lead to assume that some cigarettes had most likely met their extinguishment on said chair. Further down from the desk, a tattered and tea-stained map was pinned up on the wall. It had a few tears in and was missing at least a continent from what Star could observe in the glance she had of it.

Finally, at the back of the room was a medium sized sofa, it was torn open in more than a few places, so a lot of the padding had overflown.

Markus had walked straight over to the couch at the back and sat down, releasing a sigh. "You can bring over that chair, and one of yous can sit down 'ere." He finished as he pointed to his left, illustrating for one of the two teens to sit adjacent to him. Star was about to converse with the Diaz about who should sit there, but Marco had already began to move over to the desk chair so the Butterfly strolled over to the Lucitor.

Marco had spun the chair around so that when he sat down his chest had faced the back of the chair and his legs were spread over the edges of the seat. As soon as Marco let his buttock touch the wooden seat he began to start the recording on the audiograph. They'd only get one chance at this, once the grooves had been cut out for the sound, it would be physically impossible to re-record anymore audio. The two would have about 4 minutes of recording.

"What yer wanna talk about?" Markus asked inquisitively, leaning back in the corner of the sofa, arms crossed around his chest.

"Anything juicy with you and 'Phe." Star begged with a wicked smile on her face, never would Marco had thought that Star could be such a great actor. She really sold the part of a 'nosy friend' that wants to know everything to do with her 'girl friend'.

"Straight to the point, I like you." Markus replied with a cheeky grin of his own. His bubbly personality was overflowing at this point. "Me and 'Phelia met half a year ago or so when she came down to the village, she was trying to escape some annoying peasants who were attempting to get autographs or something and we ended up running into each other. Long story short, we fell for each other. Not in love, we were just two bad kids wanting to have some fun." His head was looking towards the door we entered from, eyes closed and the smuggest look you'll ever see plastered across his face.

"What kind of fun?! Come on! Please tell us… You can't just leave us on an edge like that." Star pleaded, hoping to drag any information she could out of the lad. Fortunately, he was the kind of kid to take that bait.

"Well. If you insist missy, we would play games with each other. Dares to do things, at first it was casual things like pranks and stuff. But I took the initiative," He put a lot of emphasis on the 'I', "and dared her to kiss me. The little lady couldn't keep her hands off after that. It felt like every chance we got we'd just find ourselves in the other's presence, hands feeling wherever – mouths doing whatever."

"Ooooo!" Star shrieked, "Sooo scandalous." She added on, the princess had her index finger on her right hand next to her lip and wore a puckered-up face. Marco could've started to talk too, but he felt like it'd be best to leave this to Star seeing how she was doing such a good job.

Markus chuckled and replied "You know it sister. So can I ask you a question now?" The Diaz turned off the recording at this, not wanting anything more to be engraved into the evidence. Lucitor had addressed Marco when asking.

"Fire away pal." Marco replied with a friendly smile. The three began to talk for what seemed like forever.

 _ **Later**_

The time currently was 8:20PM.

"Tell ya what!" Markus said to his newfound 'friends'. "Drinks are on me, let's go have some fun!" He cried. Marco was sure that they still had a bit of time left before the duo had to go back, it'd have been rude to refuse a drink. (Legal age here in 16) However, by the time Marco could already respond, Star was halfway through the door crying for the other two boys to hurry it up.

Marco slightly laughed to himself at Star's forwardness, Markus smiled and jumped up, headed for the doorway. _One drink can't hurt._

 _ **Later**_

Marco had thrown back a few pints by now, his head had begun to go a little numb and his thoughts became a little slower. He wasn't sure what 10+10 was anymore, only that it was painful to think about such intense stuff. Markus was constantly calling Marco a lightweight for becoming like this after only a few. Meanwhile, Star had thrown back probably twice the number of drinks that Marco had – she was always saying that she doesn't feel any different and how she was perfectly fine…

Problem was, she was pretty much stumbling over her own feet when saying this, but the Diaz wasn't in any condition to stop the little princess from glugging down more and more alcohol. Marco's family was always too poor to buy alcohol, so he hadn't really had any possible way to build up resistance to the stuff, Star was in a similar boat. Instead of being too poor, she was simply too young to drink it when she was allowed outside, and nowadays she has no way to obtain the mind-boggling drink.

The male counterpart gazed up at the semi-smashed up clock that was loosely hanging on the far-side of the bar. He had to get pretty close to it in order to read it, the time-teller displayed 9:15PM, _Oh f***._ Marco silently cursed to himself, he had let himself get distracted, he and Star needed to leave. It was only a 20 minute walk, but in the condition they were, who knows how long it'd take, and sneaking around the castle when being totally smashed was going to be extremely difficult.

"Star!" Marco called out, his head swaying back and forth trying to find the young blonde-haired girl in the crowd. The boy eventually bumped into her, "Star." He repeated once more, getting close to her face which was in pure ecstasy and fairyland.

"Marco?" She called out, the 'r' lasting 14 times longer than it should have. Her hair was ragged now with streaks exploding from every which-way. A small hiccup escaped her face as she was keeping a strange smile targeted on Marco.

"Star, we need to go. Now."

"But we just got here Marcooo. Marco. Hehehe, Marco." The Diaz's head might've been hurting and his vision might be a bit distorted, but he had enough sense to drag her by force. "Lemme goooo Marcooo!" She cried, faintly attempting to punch his firm grasp on her arm. The two eventually found themselves outside, it was pitch black now and the lights were the only beacon of hope that could lead them back to the castle.

The Diaz began to lead the princess down the streets, she was half clinging onto him as they walked. Occasionally, a small light might catch the Butterfly's attention and she'd make 'oooos' or 'ahhs' at it.

 _ **A little while later**_

It took a long time, but the two eventually made it to the hill, and then the forest – which they kept to and circled around the edge of the castle. They were a lot more noticeable now, Star kept standing on twigs, trying to be as loud as possible. Marco had to use his spare free hand to clasp her mouth shut so that they wouldn't alert any security. He hadn't much collection of time anymore, he thought it'd be about 9:30PM but he knew that was far too early. He had to just hope that he made it back in time.

They both approached the hole in the fence and got through, Marco put Star near the ground and then proceeded into the gate. He turned around to help her back through, but when she tried, the right shoulder on her top got snagged on one of the metal wires. In her obviously drunken state, instead of trying to free herself she just powered on and ended up taking off her right sleeve, in addition to a little bit of the clothing that was over her bra. It wasn't a lot, you could only see the strap. _Pink?_ Marco noted, he quickly shut any idea out of his brain though, determined to see success.

He lifted the princess back up and marched on forward, past the fountain and into the castle. The doors squeaked open and the two tip-toed in… I say two, Marco tried to tip-toe in, Star just pranced around without a care in the world.

Marco struggled to carry both himself and the half dead princess up the stairs. He got to his floor before hearing footsteps coming from below them, in a terrified panic, Marco rushed over to his room and scrambled to get the key in and unlock the door. It just about opened when the two silhouettes rose from the stairway. The Diaz had wanted to grab Star and try again in a minute for her room, but by the time he looked back she was already collapsed on his bed. He had wanted to try and get her to her bedroom, but honestly, he couldn't be bothered anymore. He hadn't the patience or strength to fight with a passed-out princess.

In his slightly sleep deprived state he just walked over to his bed and collapsed next to her. Both of them lost to unconsciousness.

* * *

 **Ending Notes:**

Was that a cliff hanger? Yes? No? You tell me in the reviews section :P

Again, nothing major to really add on to this. No announcements or anything,

 **Review!** It lets me know you're interested, leave any suggestions or _constructive_ criticism!

 **Thanks,**

 **Peace ~**


	13. The Web Expands

**Notes:**

This one contains quite a bit of talking between characters, but honestly it was one of the more fun ones to write. In the similar way to the last chapter was one of the shortest ones, this is probably one the longest ones. I'll have more to say about this whole thing in the end so please do read this one.

 **Reviews:**

 **bolightning -** Thanks for all your comments! It's really nice to see that someone is really enjoying this story! :D

 **SuicideGuy -** I'm not gonna lie, I couldn't understand your review, but it cracked me up laughing with your last few words - "my to think they did the do dah" I don't know why I found that so hilarious but thanks :)

 **zeldex72 -** I didn't even know if anyone from the earlier day was still reading, you've been here a while and I thank you for your patience :) I'll try my best to keep up the good work.

 ***** FYI -** This chapter has semi-important ending notes.

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 _ **Dining Hall – Morning**_

The time was about 8:12 AM. Most of the royals and the chosen were enjoying their breakfast meal. Al and Matt were sitting next to each other, "Where's Marco?" Al asked, slightly worried since he had only been given the fact that the Diaz was doing something which could get him executed.

"I don't know." Matthew quickly shot back, he himself was on edge from the fear of what could've happened. The boy hadn't heard anything from his partner in crime since he left his room last night.

"Why are we missing one?" River demanded to know, despite being so early in the morning – the King had already helped himself to a glass of wine. Also, the royal had noted that the Chosen that was missing was the same one that he bumped into on the staircase.

All the servants were standing around the edges of the dining hall, that was when Emilia spoke up. "If I may your majesty," She started, waiting for a signal to continue with her speech. Em herself was pretty frightened at what could've happened to her temporary master because of the fact that she last saw him heading for the royal quarters with an audiograph. Nonetheless, she had to make something up in order to potentially save her boss.

"Go on." River sternly replied.

"My lord was feeling ill yesterday, when I arrived at his quarters this morning, he felt extremely under the weather. I've asked the castle Nurse to have a look at him, he should be joining us by mid-day." Truth was, she hadn't actually checked on his room in the morning, Marco had been insistent on the fact that he was capable of taking care of himself – so he said that Emilia could sleep in more instead of waking him up.

The other two teens looked at Marco's servant when she spoke out, both querying in their minds as to whether this was the truth or not. Marco had seemed in almost perfect health yesterday, it was hard to imagine that he had taken such a turn for the worse overnight.

The tension in the hall was paramount, it seemed as if most of the other chosen also took an interest into why one of their competitors had been missing from the start of the day. All attention was directed to River, but no one had made eye contact with him. "Hmmmm." He started, Al and Matt froze in their efforts to eat, Al was terrified of what the outcome could've been. Matt on the other hand was preparing to have to help his friend out of whatever situation he was in.

Emilia had started with a strong resolve, but as it dawned on her that she had just lied to the most powerful people in the country – her stare started to weaken and her gaze fell slightly down. ' _Please accept it.'_

"Very well. Not much we can do to stop an illness. Make sure he gets better soon." The King left it at that, to him, the lie was probably backed up by Marco's fumbling around and need to 'freshen up' when the King last saw him.

Emilia walked back to the side of the room and took a deep breath inwards. The two teens at the table also released a sigh. ' _I'll check on him when the service has finished.'_

 _ **Marco's Room – 14 Minutes Later**_

There was a double tap of knocks at the door, but no response came from inside the room. The servant waited a little while and then retried the summoning, but still no answer. She quickly became impatient and decided to open the door with her own key. She missed the keyhole once but managed to slip the key into its home on the second try. A satisfying *click* resounded from the mechanical contraption.

Emilia hurriedly opened the door knob and walked inside, she spotted a lump near the covers of his bed – however, once she approached the mass of body, Emi began to notice that it wasn't one mass, but two. Her throat seized up as she approached closer to the bed. That's when she noticed that her temporary master was spread out over the bed, with ruffled hair, with a blonde girl resting her – similarly roughed up hair – on Marco's right shoulder. Emilia also observed that the girl's top had been slightly ripped near the shoulder, revealing part of her undergarments.

A confused look struck Emilia's face for a moment, before she shrieked out "What?!"

At the rude awakening, Marco jumped up, consequently causing Star's head to fall and hit the bed, a whimper escaped the Butterfly's mouth as she cooed her both hungover and now slightly thumping head. The Diaz positioned himself into a straightened sat-up position, eyes wide and looking into his knees. That's when he became more aware of his surroundings and so became aware of his faithful servant standing to his right.

A moment passed without any words being uttered, a mesmerising silence that neither party wished to end. Marco had to clean up the misunderstanding though, he decided to take the initiative. "It's not what it looks like." He blurted out, making direct eye-contact.

"It's not what it looks like?! You're a Chosen! You can't be bedding other women, IN THE CASTLE, no less!" Emi's hands were mimicking one another, creating a slow grasping motion.

"I-"

"He-"

"Wasn't bedding me/her!" The two teens both scream in unison at the servant. Right after, Star quickly bounced up and sprinted for the toilet where the door slammed shut and a vomiting sound came erupting from the toiletry. The other two presences were gazing over to the source of the sound before looking back at one another.

"Details, now." Emilia demanded from her young Lord. Marco, realising that there was no other way out of the situation had to cave in to the overwhelming presence and tell her everything. He occasionally got sharp pains through his skull because of the alcohol, only imagining what Star must be going through in the opposite room.

 _ **Little While Later**_

"So," Emilia took a deep breath, "Let me get this straight. Three teenagers, one being the rightful heir to the throne, tried to blackmail and overthrow the current heir to the throne: Which is Ophelia? And you had to get shit-faced in order to accomplish that?"

"I mean the part about being wasted wasn't planned."

"NONE OF IT SHOULD'VE BEEN PLANNED!" Emilia screamed, pacing around the room, what a mess they've all found themselves in now.

"What's the problem?! You can just deny being involved and go on your merry way!"

"You think it's that easy?!" The two started to get into a more heated argument now, Star had still been MIA in the bathroom. "I can't just say I'm not involved anymore, you've made me involved!" The two began to breathe heavily.

"If we're both involved already then why are we even having this argument!?" Marco shot back.

"I don't know!" Em shouted back. The two remained in an awkward silence for a while. It lasted until Star eventually crawled out of the bathroom, face as white as a ghost.

"Please… Just shush you two. My head…" She groaned. The other two looked at each other before apologising for getting so angry.

"So, what's the plan now? It's a bit late to stop at Ophelia isn't it? This web of madness you've spun has caught too many people in it." Emilia told Marco.

"The plan…" Marco emphasised, "was to get revenge at Ophelia for hurting however many people she's tormented over her pitiful years of existence. It wasn't to bring down a monarchy."

"My lord. Look around, this isn't real. This is a fantasy-land where those who sit at the top eat banquets of food and those at the bottom scrounge up discarded food."

…

"Have you been talking to Matthew?" The Diaz asked, hands closed together – sitting cross legged on his bed.

"Matthew?" Emilia asked, "You mean Sir Timmings? No, we servants are forbidden from interfering with one another's Chosen." Marco didn't know what to do, at first it was him and Star against Matt in terms of what they should do. But now, it was 2:2. There was only one person he could ask to break this tie: Al.

He had promised to tell him everything had the teen survived, so now would be as good a time as any.

"Say, Emilia." The brunette perked up, "Could you grab Sir Dolittle for me?" The teen solemnly asked, slightly afraid of what Al's outlook on the situation could be. At first it was 3 people vs a Monarchy. If Al said to go through with taking on the royals, they'd have 2 peasants, 1 noble, a hidden princess and a servant. Against pretty much every government force in the entire country. The odds weren't exactly great.

 _ **16 Minutes Later**_

Star had picked herself up the ground and grabbed a glass of water, she near-enough inhaled the liquid. "Rough night?" Marco asked.

"Oh haha, you're funny aren't you." She bitterly replied. The two shared a good-humoured laugh afterwards, that's when the third knock of the day came on their door. It opened to reveal Alfonzo and Marco's assistant.

"Marco?" Al asked, "You look like crap." The boy observed, "Who's that?" He asked whilst pointing towards the Butterfly.

"She… Is part of the reason I called you here. And why I've been so secretive." Marco replied as he went on to explain the entire story, and at the end, their dilemma.

 _ **A While Later**_

"I say…" All present listened in closely to the Dolittle's announcement. "We tear it down." The Diaz sighed heavily. "Listen to me," Al continued, "If you were to blackmail or get revenge on Ophelia what good would it do? It might feel good for a day or two, but then she'd just have you executed, or the King would. You'd be doing half-assed job and not finishing it, this is one of the few moments in history where we have a choice to change everything. This is our shot, and I say we take it."

…

…

…

"Ok." Marco announced. Emilia and Al smiled, Star simply stared at him for a moment before asking.

"You sure? We'll probably die trying."

"Hopefully not if we do it smartly." The Diaz replied.

"What's our first step, leader?" Al asked while looking at Marco.

"Uh…" It seemed like whatever coldness had clouded Marco's eyes had left yesterday. He did change though, for the best? Who knows.

"Our first mission should be to make use of whatever connections we have. We can't win against the monarchy's influence overnight, if we are to win this. We need to set the groundwork so that when they eventually find out – it'll be too late for them to do anything. So, Star – go ask Glossaryck for any help he can provide or books on the Phillodeion War. Al, go inform Matt of our choice and make sure he's alright after last night." Al hadn't any idea on what occurred to Matthew yesterday night, but he took his leader's orders seriously. "And Emilia, just try to get any information you can from other servants, details on what's happening when, if any royals are leaving or going, literally anything."

Once the three had been given their orders, simultaneously they cried "With pleasure."

Today was the first day in which Ophelia would send someone home.

 _ **Last Night – Matt & Ophelia**_

Matt had been given the order to commence operation Counter-Viper. Or at least, that's what he was calling it – the name helped get him in the mood to stay motivated. He left to find Ophelia, most likely she'd be prancing around in the garden as she usually is. It was fairly late now, the other Chosen were most likely having dinner – but it wasn't mandatory like breakfast was.

 _ **Garden**_

It took the boy quite a while to spot the seductress, eventually though he found her crouched over by some flowers. "Hey there." He called out, the girl whipped her head around to find a 5 foot 8, short-brown haired young man with slight stubble beginning to from on his chin.

"Oh, hi." Ophelia tried to put on her good-girl act, that was until she realised who she was talking to. "Aren't you that kid that's always hanging around Diaz?"

"Oh so you remember me?" Matt replied casually as he closed in on distance. The sky was dark out now, the last embers of sunset were drifting slowly into non-existence. "For a beauty like you to remember me, that's pretty flattering."

"Heh. Well," Ophelia moved in a little closer to Matt, she was about 5 foot 5 – so still no match for his height, but the power she emitted was far greater, "flattery with me won't get you anywhere."

"I'd be pretty annoyed if you were that easy." Matthew coolly shot back.

"You don't think I'm easy?" She asked, a smirk formed on her lips. "I think you're easy."

"Oh really?" He replied with a smirk of his own.

"Yeah I do. And I bet I could break you." She left on some strange emphasis with the 'break' part. Who knows if she meant for that to be dirty talk, wouldn't be strange for her.

 _Oh no… This isn't going well already._

The two were interrupted by the sound of footsteps approaching along with some mumbling. "Hide." Ophelia demanded and dragged Matt's hand away and flung both herself and him into a nearby bush. She ended up on top, they could just about see the newcomer. It was Marco.

 _Oh no…_ Matthew thought to himself, if Marco was here – and waiting for someone. The only person that could be would be…

 _ *********_ _ **MINOR WARNING:**_ This next part is going to be a bit, on the edge of 'T' rating. If you don't want to see it, scroll down until you see a message like this. _**********_

"Oh hey look, it's your friend Marco. Why don't we invite him to join us in this position?" Matt's façade had started to break down, he was trying to play it cool but honestly, he'd never been in this position with a girl before. Her crotch was pressed up against his, he could feel all her weight on his legs – the innocent boy tried to squirm around a little, not wanting to be distracted and succumb to her teasing.

"Oh ho ho?" She asked with a certain kind of rhetorical-ness. "You want to do something like that right here? With your friend just a little bit over there? You're pretty bold."

"No—that's not what I - What I'd like is for you to get off me." He demanded, but his demanding tone wasn't really getting across since he could feel a change in his body. _GOD DAMMIT PUBERTY!_ Ophelia started to act more and more teasingly given Matt's situation, the girl knows no boundaries. They literally started talking like 5 minutes ago and she was already crawling across his body.

Her hand made its way up his chest and across his face, her right index finger traced his bottom lip. The two remained in this entanglement for a while, a small bicker that could be easily discarded as wind making strange noises.

 _ *********_ _ **ENDING OF BORDERLINE CONTENT**_ _ *********_

After a bit of time passed, they noticed another pair of footsteps heading towards them, it was Star. _Oh f***._

"Oh, a new member has entered the party. Can you hear what they're talking about?" 'Phelia asked the boy that laid beneath her.

"No, I can't." _I'm sorry Marco. But there's only one way I can think of to keep her distracted for another couple of hours._

In a moment of desperation to keep Ophelia's attention away from the two, Matt decided to take the initiative – something that has probably never happened to Ophelia before and grabbed her by the waist, pulled her down and locked her lips into a ferocious clash with his own. _I guess it's too late to turn back now._

The guy threw caution to the wind and pleaded for entrance to her mouth with his tongue: The minx couldn't help but allow this turf-war to continue, she fought back and the two remained in this standoff for some time. Only breathing when absolutely necessary.

"Well." 'Phe started, "I must confess you've really made me excited." A wicked, slightly wet smile crept on her face as she licked her lips and pounced back on Matt for another round. Eventually, the two standing near them left for the gate and so Ophelia dragged Matthew out from the bush and they made their way to the castle. Matt had some coloured stains on his face from where lipstick had been printed on it.

* * *

 **Ending Notes: IMPORTANT**

Yes, this one was a little bit... er... **_SPICEY_** if I do say so myself. **Two important things:**

1) I might have to change this story to 'M' in the future since I might want to push the boundary a little bit too much with some of the descriptions later on, and I'd rather have a safe story - than a story that gets deleted! :)

2) I'd like to know your suggestions, I could go either way with this story now - it's as much my story as it is yours. So you have a vote, I can go down a darker route, that's probably more realistic, gritty and drama-filled with twists everywhere. OR, I can keep going the way I am, make a story that follows a heroic tale. I can go either way, OR I can finish up this story with one route - and make a spin-off where I explore the opposite idea.

 **Other than that:** There's not much else to say, did you enjoy it? I wanted to add a little something since it felt like a bland chapter otherwise - so I thought I'd show you some of Ophelia and Matt's _'fun'_

 **Review!** Constructive criticism, Suggestions, Praise or anything of the sort, it lets me know you're enjoying it - or not - and that you're reading! :D

 **Peace~**

 **vK**


	14. Info-Gathering

**Hey! It's me, back... Again... Yeah.**

Some of you might have noticed that I've been missing for a few days, if you read the Author's note which should've now been taken down, you'll know that I've been ill. Bad, and I've had a computer science test coming up, first one was Wednesday 18th, next one will be tomorrow - Friday 20th April. So that's fun! Revision when you're nearly dead is _always_ fun.

Anywhoo - Reviews!

 **Guest -** Yep! I've rested up, still not 100%, my nose is a bit iffy but I'm a lot better.

 **Well, that's it! Enjoy~**

* * *

 _ **Garden**_

The Dolittle ran around searching for his comrade for quite some time before stumbling across his location. Al found Matt sitting on one of the worn-out benches that laid plotted around the courtyard, freshly cut grass was strewn across the pavement. The sun was blazing down today, it seemed like the temperatures were dipping into the high 20 *Cs (About 82.4 *F), most of the Chosen were happily going about their day – some were attempting to win over Ophelia in a horse riding competition, on the other hand – Matthew was still recovering from the night he had with 'Phe yesterday. It had put on a good act at breakfast, but when he was alone, it was clear to see that he was obviously taxed from her shenanigans.

"Hey!" Al spoke up as he approached the other teen whose head was facing up to the sky – eyes closed, simply absorbing the heat. However, with the newfound company, his eyes snapped open and he tilted his head toward the emitter.

"Oh hi Al." He said with a yawn, eyes slightly watering up.

"Something wrong?" Al happily asked as he continued to move closer to Timmings.

"Nah I'm fine, you need me for anything?" The worn-out teen replied with yet another yawn.

"Not me in particular…"

"Hmm?"

"Marco wanted me to inform you about one thing and say thanks for taking care of Ophelia last night – it must've been rough." The two stood about 2 metres away from one another, Matt had both his arm spread across the bench and his back slumped, meanwhile, Al had his hands in his pockets.

"Oh, thanks… What was that one thing?"

"We've all decided to go through with," Alfonzo moves in closer, wanting to whisper the next part to avoid any unnecessary complications, "going for the hen." Which he followed by a *wink* *wink*.

"Er… I'm not following." Matthew replied, an eyebrow raised and his mouth contorted to a confused smirk.

"You know… We're – _going against the current."_

"Still not following."

"For God's sake! We're taking on the monarchy." Al quietly screamed into the poor noble's ears, hands forming a 'W' shape, as if about to catch a ball. Said hands were moving around, trying to get the point through to Matt.

"Ah, I see… But there shouldn't be enough people to have a deciding vote, did Star change her mind?"

"Not really, Emilia – Marco's servant, kinda found out and then they dragged me into it – and now, we're all in on it."

"Jesus, this web of secrecy is starting to catch buses."

"Yeah, it's a bit too late to stop now though." Al declared as he sheepishly rubbed his neck. Matt took a breath in and out before responding.

"Well… Where do we start?"

 _ **Library**_

"Glossaryck!" Star called out, she had just opened the doors leading into the mud-stained room. "You here?" She followed up, a small clank coming from her left, roughly 4 rows down.

"Princess?" A gruff old voice called out, a surprise to the old man but a welcome one at that. He had freshly cut his bear, a few centimetres of grey hair lines his chin, a bit of stubble was forming above his upper lip however it wasn't anything more than a few dots. The old man had blue eyes that were reminiscent of diamonds. Star found the book keep browsing some of the bottom-row books a few aisles down. "It's rare to see you come here? What do I owe the pleasure?" The man had a warm smile, it was the kind that a grandpa would give to one of his gran kids.

"I'm looking for anything on the fila-philo-phillodeopian wa-"

"Phillodeion war?" The man cut her off, noticing how she was struggling to remember the name.

"Yeah! That one!" She cried out after being corrected, unlike Ophelia who would have someone's head off if they interrupted her.

"What's a lovely lady like you doing with a story like that?" Glossy had one eyebrow raised at the request of the phantom princess.

"Oh, you know… Just readin'…" The Butterfly had both her hands clasped behind her back and was kicking the ground while looking down. Her demeanour forfeiting any chance of concealment she had.

"You never read," The old man said with a small chuckle, "last time you were here you said 'Sounds Boring' to me reading about the Montrialg War. So, I'll ask once more – why do you want it?" He may have been old, but as he's proven before he definitely knew how to use body language to intimidate others, he hadn't increased his level to Star at all, but the way in which his eyes stared directly into her soul broke down her defence rather quickly.

"We want to overthrow my father and sister. And we need tactics…"

Glossaryck didn't really know how to digest this information, he thought that Star was contempt with her position right now – but her she is talking about how she's going to cause Coup. "Princess…" She looked at him know, head still facing down but her eyes had met his. "I've known you since you were born, and in all that time I've seen you grow into such a wonderful girl – no matter what anyone has said or done to you. I know your parents haven't treated you right but think about what you're saying right now. This isn't a game: I don't want to lose you."

…

"I have… Do you think it was easy? Do you think that going against everything I've known for the better half of two decades was easy?! I've agonised over this, cried for this – do you know how close I've been to ending my own life countless times?! This isn't a life this is imprisonment. Yes, I might die but that'll be more worthwhile than killing myself." Glossaryck rose, seeing the crystal bulbs beginning to form within Star's eyes, the unfamiliar feeling of an impending sense of guilt. "I have lived an entire life based in the shadows and I'm so so – so so tired of this endless loop. I can't do it anymore, and this is my ticket out." Her face met his in an intense Star, tears were streaming but it wasn't sorrow that she was feeling right now – a compound of intensely mixed, and very volatile emotions stirred inside her: Resentment, Anger, Hate, Guilt – hate for herself, resentment to her father, guilt for doing this to everyone around her and finally, anger to everything.

In the blink of an eye, the wise-man realised that this wasn't his little flower he had to protect, it was a bomb about to explode and the best thing he could do was direct it to the way of those who deserve it. "I'll follow you, to the end of the Earth. You're going to need more than an old book to guide you: If you'll have me, allow this old geezer to guide you."

Words refused to form in the Butterfly's throat, after a moment of stuttering – she just nodded her head happily and jumped into a great hug with the old man, aforementioned geezer happily accepted the gesture of kindness from his greatest friend. However, his mind was already ticking about what to do.

 _ **Servant Quarters**_

The servants had small break rooms dotted around the castle, 2 per floor except for the one containing the royal quarters – in which case there was only one break room, exceptionally large though and fitted in gold; silky red carpets, drapes, anything of the sort.

Emilia was currently on the first floor one (Ground floor), despite all the assistants putting on displays of professionalism and indifference, they were human too. Once that door closed they free to become themselves, the door unlocked with a familiar, satisfying click, then Marco's personal assistant took a few steps inwards.

Like I mentioned, once that door closed—

"Emi! How are you doing?" A blonde-haired guy cried out, he had short-medium hair, it was stuck up in a professional combed manner, the male outfit consisted of a green necktie, white shirt, black waistcoat and some regular black trousers. The female component consisted of a similar colour scheme, except the necktie was replaced by a bowtie.

"Phil," she sighed, "I've told you a million times before – no. I don't have time for anything like that." A slight hint of agitation laced her voice.

"It's just one date!" The pushy man cried out again, trying to go in for a hug which she simply stuck one arm out in order to keep him out of reach.

"No." She firmly replied.

"Hey Em." An older guy this time approached her, one hand holding out a coffee for her to grab. One benefit to being a 'slave' was that they had near-enough an infinite amount of coffee to keep them going.

"Thanks Dick." She called out before placing it on a coaster and dropping into a chair. Another two servants were sat around the room but they didn't talk too much, an occasional short-sentence may be heard. The other three began some idle chit-chat until Emilia decided to shift it onto her chosen topic.

"I've been thinking guys," She started, but was immediately cut off by Phillip.

"That's dangerous." A monotone reply came from the blonde-hair, brown-eyes man.

"Shut up." She added on, Richard just laughed at the two bickering, they were all good friends. Phil came in to the castle a couple years after Emilia, Richard has been there for over two decades. "What are your Chosen like? You must know 'em well enough by now."

Rich was the first to speak up, "mine's just like any other you'd find, pretty stuck up and expecting everything. Nothing new, last time I saw him he was outside trying to woo (emphasis on the 'oo') over the princess. Sent me back because I was 'cramping his style.'" The other two laughed at the old man's feeble attempt to impersonate a youngster.

Phil continued the conversation, "my kid's not too bad, he's very like me – manly! He knows what he wants and he goes in 100%!"

Phil wasn't always gladly accepted in parties. His attitude was… an 'inconvenience'.

"How's your kid Em?" Richard asked while sipping on his half-filled cup of tea, it had an absurd amount of milk in. Surprising that he could drink something so milked-down that it tastes as if it's been just come from the cow.

"He's… for a lack of a better word: Unique?" She usually drank her coffee black, it took her a few years to get fully accustomed to the taste, but it was far more invigorating to drink.

"Oh yeah, you have the peasant-boy right? What a manly guy, coming into this tournament!"

"He didn't have a choice." Emilia had to clarify with Phil.

"Yeah yeah I know, but it's still pretty manly he hasn't been executed yet, right?" The guy looked over to the older gentleman for back up.

"Er… Sure. Let's go with 'manly'."

Emilia tried to get information on the schedule, "I forgot to read the message, what's on the agenda for tomorrow and the next day?"

"The great Emilia has taken a mis-step in her preparations! How could this be?! Are you really my Em?"

The woman's stare hardened, "Two things: One) I'm not **your** Em. Two) You have 10 seconds to start talking or I'll break your hands so you can't harass any other ladies."

Phil backed up in his seat a little, a sarcastic scared face plagued his head, "oh no, the great brute Emilia is coming for me – whatever shall I do?"

The lass took no notice of this insult and proceeded wit her threat, fully-intent of following through given the condition wasn't met. As time ticked down, her stare became colder, "4 seconds."

"Phil, you might wanna tell her." Richard observed, nearly finished with his 80% milk tea.

"Why would I give in—" The cocky guy was cut off by the sound of a fork being picked up, the next thing he knew his shirt was pinned to the coffee table. A dark presence loomed over him.

"Ok ok you win." His face was full of terror at the sight of the beast that stalked him.

"Not very manly giving into a woman, is it?" Richard proceeded to tease the young butler.

"Can it old man." He replied as the man scratched his neck. "Tomorrow is the archery competition, followed by a feast in the garden, and then finishing up with fireworks on the night. It's to celebrate the first queen's coronation or something. The next day is an all out fight to win over Ophelia during the day, then at about 4PM everyone should be preparing to get ready for the end of the first week's ball which it'll be announced what's happening over the next week. About 65% of the staff will be out drinking on that night since it'll be low-key. Obviously, a few guards will remain – we will and so will the chefs.

Emilia sighed, "That's good to know…" The three continued their chat for a while longer, letting time slip by.

 _ **Marco's Room**_

The Diaz was laid on his bed with his arms tucked behind his head, staring into the soft, purple fabric that laced itself over the top of his king-sized bed. That was when a very quiet, triple-knock arrived on the door. _Who?_

The question was on the forefront of Marco's mind the entire trip to the doorway – it could be anyone… River, Star, Ophelia, Al, Emilia… Moon? _I can't tell. That triple knock was weird though._

Once Marco arrived at the sound's source, he unlocked the door and opened it to a greeting of fluffy green hair.

"Um, hello… It's, Kelly here… My friends call me Kell, but that doesn't mean anything to you, right… Yeah er – this!" She presented herself, arms open to reveal a slightly grey and white tuxedo.

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 **Ending Notes:** Kelly showed up at the end! OOoooooooo, she won't be a main character I don't think, and she's very OOC so it's more so just character design with maybe a few throw ins, but other than that she's a bit shy as you can tell.

How was it? ( **Review** ) Personally, I felt pretty lost with this one, it felt like I didn't know where to go and so I just kept going - a bit shorter than the last one, but it was bound to be. My favourite thing to write was the banter between the servants, they are friends and they've known each other for a long time so it's always fun to write characters that know each other well - they can bounce off one another.

 **Leave suggestions, criticisms, praise, anything of the sort in the Reviews! It lets me know you're reading. With that all said:**

 **See ya**

 **vK~**


	15. The Game's Over Marco

**Notes:** Yeah... It's me... Back from the dead! Except, not really. Sorry I've been gone so long, I don't have an excuse. I got a lot of writer's block with this story, no ideas were coming to me and I wasn't sure where to take it. There's quite a lot of pressure when people are saying "I can't wait to see where this is going" and "I like where it's going" and I'm thinking ' _This is more or less being made up chapter by chapter idfk what I'm doing! XD'_ So sorry. I do make some ideas, like the Town trip to get the confession as a plot point - but I didn't start this story knowing where I was going, cause that'd have been boring.

Also, more about this chapter - because I've been gone so long, I completely forgot everything about this story! D: I forgot why I added Kelly, or what the tuxedo was for, I forgot Matt's name! Or what day I was on, I had to re-read most of my story to figure out what I was doing :P

tl;dr - I forgot the story, I was making new stuff on the spot when writing this chapter, and I'm sorry for not posting.

 **Reviews!**

 **Awakened One** \- Thanks for the compliment :)

 **paolotejadaj** -Chapter, wasn't coming soon - sorry for the big disappoint. And thanks for the compliment, I'm not sure. I feel like I wanted this to be dark, gritty and had drama in it. But I ended up writing a mashup of that and heroism, I wasn't sure which way to go and I think I'm going to delve back into darkness for now, spiciness will hopefully continue!

 **Guest chapter 13. Apr 15 -** I will!

 **Guess chapter 14. Apr 17 -** I tried, and I'm back, for how long - Idk.

 **zeldex -** Yeah mine too, the tests aren't too bad for me but maybe that's because we're doing different courses/levels of education. And I have to do a project for year 13 (Equivalent of Senior high school, I think.) I've been trying to make a game in C# (XNA) and I can't even get started! xD I'm really bad

 **SuicideGuy** \- I think River does suspect something, and Kelly's character is still up in the air for me. I'm considering it, but I don't know yet. And about Marco, I don't think he has the skill to win, a good suggestion though, I might end up doing it - depends how I feel :)

 **Nonyaarb** \- Thank you! I do try :D

* * *

"Um, hello… It's Kelly here… My friends call me Kell, but that doesn't mean anything to you, right… Yeah – er – this!" She presented herself, arms open to reveal a slightly grey and white tuxedo.

"Uh… Hey, what's all this?" Marco replied, slightly baffled at the green-haired girl's offering. Kelly had her eyes fully squeezed shut as she held out the clothing articles, as if she was terrified to make any eye-contact.

"It's your outfit for the ball – sir!" She quickly added on the 'sir' at the end, obviously new to this role. Her mannerisms were rather cute, she was currently fidgeting around very awkwardly.

"The ball?" The Diaz asked inquisitively.

"Yes sir, it's the mid-stay ball. You didn't hear? We hold 3 balls over the course of the Choosing, the first is at the start, the second is during the middle and the final one is towards the end."

"Oh I see…" Marco acknowledged, a moment later he saw that her arms were starting to shake from the weight of the clothing. "Oh let me get that, sorry." He quickly stated with a small chuckle.

"It's fine. My old man usually says I need to 'toughen up' anywhoo." The girl sheepishly rubbed her neck and looked down. The two stood idly for a minute before the green-ette decided to break the tension, "I should be going now. I have other stuff to do, bye!" Kelly chirped as she left the doorway and hurriedly moved down the halls. _What a strange girl._ Marco silently thought to himself before closing the door and laying the outfit down on a chair with a soft *pomf*. _A ball, huh… This could work._

 _ **Castle – Entrance**_

Alfonzo and Matthew were headed up to fill Matt in about the current situation. Slight clanks of their feet echoed down the corridor, an annoying feature but also a useful one, it was about mid-day now so the sun was beaming through the windows, occasionally blinding Al who was stood on the left of Matt.

"So, did we decide to take on the royals?" Timmings whispered quietly, not wanting any wrong ear overhearing them. Alfonzo glanced around for a moment before responding, ensuring himself a pseudo-safe space.

"Yeah, this entire thing is crazy though. I mean, three hours ago I didn't even know you all made this little snowball, and now it's creating an avalanche!" Al whispered, his voice becoming slightly louder as it approached the ending. The companions approached the start of the staircase and began to climb, "God I hate stairs." The Dolittle complained, he had never been in the best physical condition due to his poverty, however, his arms had definitely bulked up thanks to working in the mines every day.

However, the same could not be said for Matthew – like a swan gracefully dancing on the water he powered up the stairs with ease. Matt was the kind of guy who went up 2 steps in one leap, meanwhile, Al's method included lightly hopping between following steps.

Upon reaching the final flight, the two brushed past Emilia who was making her way further down the castle, Em gave a weak smile with an 'ok sign' with her hand, she seemed somewhat distracted though. Alfonzo nodded in acceptance and smiled back, meanwhile Matthew was still lost as to why nobody would just speak to each other. This wasn't some fantasy-novel where the walls have ears. Regardless, the two proceeded to Marco's room.

 _ **20 Minutes Earlier – Diaz Room**_

Emilia was conversing with Marco about the itinerary she had learned, or more accurately, dragged out. "So, it's looking like archery later?" The teen asked, eyes fixed on nothing in particular.

"Yes, God knows how many things could go wrong with that…" The servant remarked solemnly as she similarly stared off into the abyss, thinking about all the possibilities that laid before them.

"I've never shot an arrow in my life…" Marco added, neither one enthusiastic about today's plans. The adolescent strolled over to the side of his bed before collapsing himself on it, with it releasing a massive sigh. Whereas, Emilia walked over to one of the dressers and leaned on it for support, none of the candles were currently lit, so the only light source was the massive window that allowed the sun's rays to strike the wooden floor. The two remained in silence for a long time, Star was relaxing in the tub, she returned back from her adventure about 10 minutes ago and instantly moved towards the bath, in hopes to wipe away her hangover, it was her who eventually came to break them out of their wall-of-depression.

"What's up with you guys?" The princess asked while she scanned around the room, a towel was tucked in around her chest and ended just above her knees. Her slightly darkened golden hair was clustered up and fell behind her back. Marco was laying face-first into his pillow, thus, unaware of Star's immediate attire. Emilia took note of the scars that embedded themselves deep into the Butterfly's arms, her eyes dropping down to the floor as a sense of despair briefly washed over her: Which only reinforced her thoughts of bringing down the king.

"The world hates us…" The male retorted, voice half blurred by the smothering pillow. The servant thought it'd be best to let the two talk out in privacy for now, she bid farewell and strode towards the exit – hands in pockets.

The Butterfly waddled over to his bed, legs constricted by the tight towel encompassing her frame. She plopped herself down to Marco's left, and looked at his ruffled hair, slightly admiring the view for a moment before her cheeks started to go rosy and she shied away. That was when Marco rotated his head to look at her petite body, he noted that there was still a small red-stained patch from when Ophelia tried to drown her… "Shouldn't you be getting dried off?"

Her head was still turned away from Marco – slightly wetting the pillow she laid on. "Oh? You want me to get dried right here? In full view of you? Perv." Her voice reminded him of a more comedic Ophelia, nonetheless it had enough 'Phe in it to make him blush vigorously and started to fidget around a little.

"N-no, I mean- what I meant was that you should go… in the bathroom – and dry there – dry in the bathroom not here." A wicked smile spread across Star's face before she turned to face the tomato-faced boy who was bashfully looking at anything that wasn't her. Star might've still had a little alcohol left in her system, or maybe this was her just being truthful with what she felt. Who was to tell?

"If you want, I could—" She brought her right arms up to the small knot that held together he towel "open it up… Just a little." She added on at the end, her hand starting to pull gently on it. Marco couldn't find words to say, he audibly gulped at the idea. Despite the sun not beaming onto the Diaz, he felt as if he were cooking alive.

That was when a couple *knocks* were heard on the door, dragging Marco to reality and breaking Star back into her regular self. The Butterfly now joined in with Marco's blushing parade and quickly removed herself from the bed, rushing over to the bathroom and snapping the door shut. The other teen straightened himself out and said "come in..." with a weak, crackling voice.

"Hey Marco." The friends greeted, Al said that he had some others things to do with clothing or something, he left Marco and Matt.

"Marco what was it you wanted to talk about?" Matt asked inquisitively, moving over to a chair to sit down.

"The plan… Right… We're still gathering information, but it looks like the ball is when we'll make our move..."

"Okay, great. What am I doing?"

 _I'm sorry Matt,_ "You, my friend, need to distract Ophelia tomorrow, again… Sorry for springing this on you." Marco sheepishly rubbed his neck and looked away from Matt.

Timmings replied casually, "Oh? That it? Yeah I can do that no problem."

"Really? You don't have any objections?" A hint of relief laced the Diaz's voice, he had thought that Matthew would put up a lot more objection when having to go another day/night alone with 'Phe.

"No, I'm fine with that plan. However, I must ask, how exactly do I distract her for so long?" He had leaned back in the chair now and was looking up at Marco with an eyebrow raised.

"About that, I don't know. You're gonna have to figure that one out on your own." A prolonged sigh escaped Matthew's mouth as he shuddered at what he might have to do.

"Well… I'll get to work on that then, we should probably go down for lunch now." Matt added, realising the time was about midday now.

"Yeah, give me a minute to get ready. I'll catch up soon."

"Don't take too long!" Matt shouted back as he strolled for the door, it opened and closed in a fluid motion. That was when a little Star reared her head out of the bathroom door, she had successfully dried herself off but didn't have any clothes to wear.

"Umm, Marco could you, pass me those clothes over there?" She asked, pointing to a splatter of clothing that lied on the floor.

"Yeah, sure – no problem." They both felt kinda awkward about what happened prior to Matt and Al's intrusion. After delivering the scrumpled up cloth he resigned himself to lunch and left Star to get dressed on her own.

 _ **Dining Room**_

When Marco arrived, most of the Chosen were grabbing food from the banquet on the central table. The royals were not present for lunch today, most likely too important for it. It was kind of like a buffet, you take what you want and put it on your plate, then move to sit down and eat somewhere. Friend groups had already started to form between some of the Chosen – how much of it was real or fake: Marco didn't know. As he was standing in the doorway, just about to enter the massive wooden cage, a small tap on the shoulder had him turn around. "Hey~~ Marcooo~~" _Oh f*** me._

"What do you want Ophelia?" He responded coldly, refusing to turn around and meet her face.

"You're becoming quite careless with your actions you know, don't get me wrong – I love~ a confident man, but it seems you're getting a little ahead of yourself." She was snaking herself to both sides of the teen, leaning into his ears to whisper threats.

"I don't know what you mean." Marco chirpily stated. A slight giggle escaped Ophelia from his retort.

"Funny… But just so you know, I've been playing a very coy game. Letting you get your wins, letting things 'slip' by without being noticed… That's over now, there's nothing I love more than tearing down a peasant's hope."

"Huh, that supposed to be a threat?" He met her eyes now, over his left shoulder.

"No." She replied, "Not a threat: It's a promise Diaz, a promise that I will end you so completely you won't know which way is up." Her voice used to hold poison. A venom so toxic it'd freeze you in place, now that was gone; all that remained was a smug, sinister malevolence. "Chill out Marco, I won't be so direct as to start my war now… Just so you know, I think you should have a drink."

"Yeah, getting drunk would solve all my problems." A hardened look formed on the Diaz's face.

Ophelia took a sharp breath in and out before continuing, she started with a light chuckle and then "Oh no, but I think it'd solve one of your problems. See ya." She left abruptly, walking away with clanks of contact between her shoe and the ground. _What the hell did she mean by that?_

He moved on, still processing the riddling message she left him. He was then waved over by his crew to sit down and eat, dismissing the immediate warning that Ophelia gave him – Marco began to feast.

 _ **10 Minutes Later**_

'Phelia made her way down to the cellar, she opened the doorway with a hefty *thunk* and proceeded. "Hey~ my lil sis."

"Piss off bitch, shouldn't you be busy screwing some noble?" Princess Star was fixed to the wall by a heavy steel chain. Just enough length to sit down but not much else, metallic, slightly brown cuffs were wrapped around the Butterfly's wrists, already slightly sore from rubbing.

"Calm down. I just need you out of the way for a little bit. Of course, if Marco doesn't find you – well… You'll be out of the way forever but let's not think about that." She ended with a giggle.

"You're insane."

"Well that's your opinion Butterfly, just so you know – the time you spend here won't be nice… I have some friends coming in to, well… You'll find out." She ended with a wink before heading up the stairs, Star began to panic at what she meant. Once Ophelia was out, Star began to pull on the chains with all her might – smacking them into the wall, kicking off from the wall, trying to jump and pull on them – this only made her wrists hurt.

"Marco, please."

* * *

 **End notes:** Yeah. Short, 2.2k words I think. But anyway, I hope you all had a good read, it took me a few days to write this chapter - usually I do it in 1 or 2 sittings. So I'm still not 100% sure what to do or where to go but I'm getting there!

 **Review!** Suggestions or anything are welcome, just for this chapter I'll allow flat-out criticism because I've been a bad writer :P Anywhoo, I hope you all have a good day, week and year :)

 **See ya,  
vK~**


	16. Get a Drink

**Notes:** Wooowie, this one is 3.7K words. Maybe I accidentally went too far :P

 **Rum -** Thanks ;) I will

 **Bedrock -** Yeah I plan to update more often. I want too! But I like to make stories as a reader, not as a writer. So if I lose interest in a story, I need time away to ready up again and then get back into it, 'relight the fire' if you would.

 **Noobl2 -** Thanks for the words of encouragement, it really means a lot to know I'm still attracting people to my story! :D

 **Infinite -** Good ideas, I already talked to you in a PM about them :)

 **Sugar** \- Hahaha, that sounds like a familiar plot to me but I'm not sure where from and yes don't worry, maybe I might or might not have something planned for Ophelia... Pssst - I don't xD

Welp! That's about it, enjoy the chapter :D

* * *

Star wasn't sure how long she'd been there by now, it'd been at least a few hours, the time was hard to tell down in the dusty darkness. Her wrists had become extremely sore by now, skin had begun to peel away from the surface, but that was nothing compared to the burning agony in which her arms were going through. Having to keep them raised for so long built up a tremendous amount of acid in her muscles, the desire to release the tension was almost maddening.

The cobblestone underneath her was slightly cracked, some parts had faint blood-stains on them from previous captees. Long iron bars were about 3 meters in front of her, they had become slightly rusted from the years of abuse by water droplets, multiple chinks of varying size had been made in the surrounding walls, presumably from rats that infested the undergrounds of the castle. The girl had lost herself to the inner-confines of her mind in wait, that was until her body had jolted her to the harsh-reality once more.

A creak of metal had notified Star of an incoming intruder, her eyes darted towards the cellar entrance in wait of the identity to this presence. A few near-inaudible footsteps were heard before a voice called out, "He-hello, M-mi-mmiss majes- Your majesty!" The voice quickly corrected, it held a warm, slightly calming tone to it. Star was left baffled by the unexpected visitor, but then as the bewilderment settled down, more questions were being raised in Star's head. 'Who was this girl?' 'Why does she know about Star being doing here?' 'Why does her voice not match her actions?' The figure approached her cell, the Butterfly could make out some features now; green fluffy hair was erupting in all directions from the scalp of the girl, she must've been about 5 foot 3 inches and she appeared to being holding a tray containing some food. "Sorry that this isn't food – I mean it's food, but just not good food – like your food, I mean like royal food." She finished a little flustered, a silent blush crept on her cheeks, there were two candles just outside the cell which were about half burnt-out. They provided little warmth but enough lighting to really emphasise the depressing nature of the cage.

"Yeah. I'd love to come over there and eat, but I can't right now. A little tied up with something." Star deadpanned, "Why don't you come over here and uncuff me?" Her head was leaning against the cold stone now, arms still up in the air.

"Hehe, sorry Princess." She stated while looking at the tray that she was lowering down, "I'm just following orders from Ophelia, funnily enough I don't want to die yet, or rather I can't die yet." She closed with a smile before sending the tray sliding across the bumpy surface towards the chained teen. "It's not that I don't like you! It's just that I want to choose the winning side in war, is all."

Kelly began to move away after that, her back faded into a deep abyss, leaving Star with a gloop of soup lying next to her right foot. "Tsk." Star groaned as Kell's footsteps faded out of earshot.

 _ **5:00 PM – Dining Hall**_

The crew spent the past few hours being good chosen, playing sport with the others, talking to the Royal family – this was slightly awkward for Marco. He could barely hold himself back from attacking the king directly, luckily Ophelia was busy flirting with some of the other chosen so he had that as an added bonus. Over the course of the stay, Al had become friends with a few more guys. I say "friends", more like casual acquaintances: Alexander Pattio and Dominic Covertson were a couple of the closer ones he made. Would they be useful to Marco? Probably not, but at least Al's blending in nicely. He's by far the least suspicious one out of all of them so far, the Diaz wanted to keep it that way.

Regardless, it was time for dinner. Marco's stomach had become increasingly more stable when eating the food, its overwhelming taste had less of an effect on his stomach. Today's menu consisted of fresh tomato soup for starters, a chicken dinner consisting of buttery mashed-potato with a dousing of gravy lathered on top for the main and finishing off with a spongy ginger cake. The food menu hadn't been nearly as over-the-top as the first day of arrival, mostly 3 course meals. However, to say they were large portions would be an understatement, even though it wasn't as massive as a five-course dinner, Marco could've lived off this meal alone for up to 3 days.

"What do you guys plan to do after this?" The Diaz asked whilst plummeting a spoonful of jiggly cake into his mouth. Alfonzo was sat across from him and Matt was sat to the left of Al, the latter person had already finished their cake; the first had barely finished a quarter of it.

A small 'hmm' came from Al for a second before he spoke, "I've been meaning to get some practise with a bow & arrow for the archery competition tomorrow. We could do that?" His eyes were still fixated on the tantalising loaf in front of him.

"Yeah," Marco replied, "I actually don't know how to use a bow & arrow at all." The teen finished while sheepishly scratching his head.

That was when Matthew decided to chime in, "I can teach you guys the basics if you'd like? You won't become world-class overnight, but at least you won't be a complete embarrassment." Matt was laid back in his seat now, letting his slightly bloated stomach rest from all the intake of sustenance. The two other comrades' eyes filled with glee when he offered the lesson on archery, that was all he needed for an answer, after a short chuckle "Well then, looks like we're going to have ourselves a night of archery."

 _ **Later – In the Garden**_

The sun had nearly set now, it filled the sky with an Ocean of orange, shifting between various colours across the massive blue. About 100m from the centre of the garden with the water fountain, there was a short archery course. It had about 3 targets, all varying in distance – the first was about 30m, second was 50m and the third was around 70m, they were just painted wooden planks which were leaned against a couple hay bales.

As Marco bent down to pickup a bow, he asked "Where do we start?" The boy grabbed the bow and started to inspect it.

"For starters, we pick the right bow." Matt replied as he took the shooter out of Marco's hand and swapped it with a recurve bow, apparently Marco – in his haste picked up a long bow which was primarily used for hunting. A blandish look crept across Marco's face, slightly embarrassed, he accepted the new piece of wood. "Now you two are going to watch me, and then you can try it right?" Timmings said as he gathered another bow and pulled one arrow from the side. He began by placing his left foot forward with his right back, about shoulder width apart, "One of the most important things is to have a strong foundation, all the power is generated by pulling the string back, hence the more you pull – the faster it'll fire." The others nodded in agreement with what he was saying, "okay, now you want to keep your firing arm – in my case my right arm – level with the arrow, if you put it down or up, your arrow won't fly straight." They seemed to understand that too, "finally, you want to release and—" a slight high-pitched zip was heard as it soared through the air faster than any normal human could register. It had embedded itself about 1 bar from the centre.

Marco and Al stared in amazement at how powerful the shot was, it was firmly rooted in the wood. "Don't be shocked too much," Matt stated as he placed the bow back down, "I'm not very good at it, I only have a good pull."

"How can we not be amazed after seeing that!" Al exclaimed with an assortment of accompanying hand gestures.

Matthew walked over to Marco, who already had a bow in-hand, "Now you try." He said as he passed over an arrow. The Diaz took a large gulp in preparation and took a hold of the aerial dagger, he swiftly made his way to the position and locked the arrow in the string, "Remember: Pulling arm level, feet planted, eye on target." Marco nodded to signal his understanding, after a minute of breathing and preparing he launched the arrow, at first the arrow looked good. His training in martial arts had strengthened his arms, so the initial velocity could probably rival Matt's. Although, the same could not be said for his technique, the short 'whizz' as it soared was interrupted by a short 'thud' as it came crashing into the ground about 5m in front of the target, Marco closed his eyes and took a steep breath in – it was rather anti-climactic.

Timmings let out a roaring chuckle while Al just snickered slightly before stopping himself. "Don't worry Marco, you'll get the hang of it." Matt said while moving over to the Diaz to collect the bow, "We've got a lot longer to practise so don't get too upset, your finger just changed the trajectory at the moment of release is all; the power was good though, you could easily be a challenge if you had better technique." Marco just hmm'd in response to the critique.

The three practised for another hour or two, it was night now and the candle lights had been lit. They decided it to be best if they left it now, overall, Marco had hit the target around 13 times, 1 near-bullseye and missed 4 times. Meanwhile, Alfonzo hit the target 16 times, 1 bullseye and missed once. It seemed the teen had an eye for looking at trajectories.

The air was fairly humid and the three were covered in sweat from the exhausting sport. Usually it wouldn't be so bad but when you're constantly firing out shots it really started to take a tax on your body – you may think it'd just be the arms, but the legs and the core work just as hard. Without either of them your form would crumble, or your shots would lack any good power to them. The trio thought it be best to pack up and head over in for showers and warmth.

As the three were collecting any arrows that they could find, the group was startled by a high-pitched shriek pierce the skies and snap behind them, lodging itself directing into a bullseye. Simultaneously, all three turned to face the source of the near-death experience. Unsurprisingly, their eyes landed them onto Ophelia stood at the furthest point away from them, she gracefully dropped the bow and strolled towards them. Marco was the first to proceed to her, "What the hell?! You could've hit one of us!" He hissed.

"But I didn't." She nonchalantly responded. A small twitch struck Marco's left eye. The other teens jogged over to the bickering two for any reinforcement needed.

"What do you want?" Matt spit as he approached.

"Don't be so cold," she complained, "after all the intimacy we shared in the bush." She finished with a wink and motioning a kiss.

Matthew was getting ready to respond but Marco stopped him, "Matt it's not worth it… She just wants to provoke us." He said. "We should just leave." Marco began to walk away from the princess, just before the other two could follow she sprang up.

"I think after you all shower, you should all go get a drink."

"Why are you so insistent on us getting drunk?" Marco shot back, his eyes not facing her.

"I'm not saying you should get drunk, oh heavens no, I just think our wine cellar is a lovely place this time of year, very chilling." Before Marco could inquire further about her strange request, Al grabbed his arm and shook his head before leading Marco off still in thought. A grin formed on Ophelia's face once they were slightly further away.

 _ **Rec Room – 9:30PM**_

On the nights when there wasn't much going on, the Chosen were free to use to recreational room as they please, it held a few board games and card packs to create any game they could think of. The trio were playing blackjack, Al was the dealer. "Hit" Marco called, he held a 3 and a 7 so far.. The third card slid gracefully across the table and softly into Marco's fingers, he glanced at the card and seemed happy with his result. "Stick" he called out. Matt stuck with his first two cards, whereas Al got three cards and then hit a fourth one but went bust. The version of blackjack they were playing allowed for three players, it wasn't a 'true game' but they weren't betting anything, it was simply to pass the time.

"20" Marco called out before flipping his cards over to reveal '3' '7' and a 'Q'.

"19" Matt replied and flipped over a 'J' '9'.

"Marco you're too good." Al cried, the Diaz was easily in the lead with the most wins, it seemed his affinity for luck was no joke.

"It's all in the wrist." Marco joked, the three shared in a good laugh before Marco continued more seriously, "What do you guys think Ophelia meant by we should go to the cellar?"

"I don't know," Al said, "knowing her it's probably a trap." Matt seemed to agree with this opinion.

"Yeah… Maybe, but there's a part of me that can't shake the feeling that it's something important…" The teen was staring into the table, lost within his mind once more. _What should I do? It could be a trap, but it could be something import—_

"If you feel that bad about it, we can check it out." Matt said, seeing the obvious conflict Marco was in right now. Marco just nodded and began to move, still thinking about what it could be.

 _ **Cellar**_

Star had managed to figure out a way to relieve the stress on her arms now, but the downside was that it meant her wrists had to endure even more pain. She had been using the method on and off for about 2 hours now, said wrists were slightly bloodied now. They weren't dripping with blood, but evident marks of extreme soreness and friction burns were protruding through her skin. The temperature was dropping quickly, the air had become sharp – piercing her nostrils with every breath, she could see her breath in the surrounding atmosphere now. She tried to keep active, but it wasn't much use when trapped to a wall. The girl needed to be warmed up, rather quickly too – it was about to reach dangerous levels of coldness.

However, in between the panic states of the impending doom, her mind was still thinking about the girl who visited her earlier, 'who was she?' 'Why did she act the way she did?' 'How come she refuses to fight Ophelia?' All questions that plagued her mind.

A few thumps around upstairs had awoken Star from her deep thought, "Hey!" She called out.

 _ **2 Minutes Earlier**_

The three teens had managed to manoeuvre around the castle successfully without bumping into any guards, however there was a close call when Al was about to sneeze next to a guard outpost. That'd have ended well.

Matt's servant had given him the directions to the cellar, when asked why he needed it, he just said that the Chosen asked him to get a bottle of something expensive. The servant seemed happy with the excuse.

The entrance was two metallic doors with a small handle in the centre, it required two of them to open it up. A small "Hey!" Was audible from further down the darkness.

"Marco that sounded like…" Al said.

"Star." Marco finished. Without wasting much time at all, he jumped into the doorway and rushed down the few steps they had in the cellar, he noticed that the air had already started to prickle his skin, _How long has Star been here?_ "Star?" He cried, trying to figure out where she was.

"Over here!" The voice called back.

"Marco don't go running off without a light idiot!" Matt shouted back as he came down with a candle, after catching up to Marco they saw Star's outline in a cage. The three ran over to try and break her out; they were stopped by a lock.

"I can try and pick it, but it'll take time." Alfonzo stated as he leaned next to it.

"We don't have time!" Matt yelled as he brought down a large metal pipe he found and snapped the lock cleanly from its hold. A loud 'clank' was heard as the metal made contact with the stone floor. Afterwards, the three rushed in to free Star, luckily the cuffs were slightly rusted – Matt and Marco were able to pull apart both of them, it was tough and their hands started to sting a lot after it. But honestly they didn't really care about the pain, or at least, Marco didn't.

A warm hug was given to the little Butterfly once they rescued her, the girl accepted the gift and returned it similarly. "You're freezing." Marco cautiously noted.

"You're late." She replied, they shared a laugh before getting her out and back into the main of the castle.

 _ **A Few Minutes Later**_

Al and Matt broke off once they reached the right floor, they needed to head to their respective rooms now, they said that they'd come to check on Star in the morning. After a few short goodbyes, Star and Marco headed for his room.

"Ophelia shouldn't be able to get to you in here." He said while taking his shoes off.

"Thanks Marco," She said with a smile, "You're always here to help me out."

"I wouldn't be much of a friend if I didn't." He said with a laugh, ' _Only a friend, huh?'_ She thought to herself.

Marco offered that she get into a warm shower for a while to heat up, after being trapped in that temperature for as long as she was, her core temp should've lowered considerably.

 _ **30 Minutes Later**_

Star finished showering, it was rather refreshing – her body felt so much lighter than before, her wrists were still red. But the damage wasn't dangerous or even close to it, she'd lived through worse injuries. The girl had dried herself on a couple of towels and put on some slightly loose clothing that she found, rather comfortable but not very stylish.

Star came out of the shower room to find a lonesome Marco sitting on the bed.

"I don't know any more Star…" He moaned.

The guy seemed really deflated about something, a flood of sadness, despair and hopelessness filled his voice. She was taken aback by the sudden deflation of her companion.

"What do you—"

She was cut off by Marco, "It seems like everything I do, Ophelia just retaliates harder and harder every time. I'm not sure what the right thing to do anymore is, like, how do I keep you safe, and still protect everyone else?" He refused to make eye-contact, instead he just kept staring into nothing…

"Why do you need to protect me?" She asked, moving closer to him – now lowering herself to sit next to him.

"Because… Because you're the most important piece. You're the most important person to me here, and I want to protect you… I have to, but I don't know how to because I always keep losing." He turned to meet her in the eyes now, a mix of emotions swirling inside of him – threatening to explode into a fit of colour.

"I think you're winning…" She said, inching a little closer, "think about it, you gave me confidence," she began to count on her fingers, "you saved me – twice! You got a confession from Markus, you made a plan to take 'Phe down, you persuaded others to join us and you managed to manipulate this entire choosing to last the full 2 weeks for everyone!"

"That's only because I had you for -"

"You still do, you haven't lost me. We can win, so just believe in yourself, kay?" Her sweet smile. That damned smile that tore through any doubts.

…

"Your wrists." Marco noted as he took a grasp on her hands gently.

"Ah that? That's fine, it'll heal don't worry about it." The two locked eyes with their hands still holding each other, both parties slightly leaned in.

"How do you know that I can win?" He asked.

"You can't…" She confessed, a puzzled look struck Marco's face, "but we can. Together, all of us." She smiled sweetly once more, and that was when Marco accidentally gave over the controls to impulse for a second; he fell into her lips, colliding with a soft impact. The two sat still like this for a moment, neither refusing to break their contact. When it finally ended, Marco was the first to be brought to reality, "I should – uh, go… To your room."

"Yeah yeah, of course…" She said, slightly disappointed in the anti-climactic ending. He stood up and moved for the exit, he opened the door swiftly and left, leaving Star alone on his bed. She exhaled deeply, _'Idiot.'_ She thought to herself.

The door slammed back open, "Fuck it, I don't want to go." He declared before strutting over to Star and grabbing her by the waist, a massive grin erupted on the Butterfly's face and the two leaned in for another kiss. A mixture of feelings were poured into each second of contact, the two made out for quite some time, eventually they moved further onto the bed and continued this war-of-mouths.

15 minutes had passed in the blink of an eye, the two stopped – gasping for oxygen. "What made you come back?" She asked, her lungs still agonising for air.

"I realised: If I don't know what the right thing to do is anymore, I'm just going to do what I want. To hell with it all." He smirked back at her.

"That'll do." She said before closing in for another frontal-assault.

* * *

 **End Notes:** Yep, I know the writing quality may have de-railed a little towards the end but I really wanted to finish it tonight! I had a few more ideas I wanted to write, but I decided against it because of how long this chapter was already. Sorry if it felt rushed at the end, I might come back to fix it up later :)

 **Review! -** Use it to ask questions about the story or myself, give suggestions or just give some constructive criticism! :D

See ya,

vK~


	17. Turning Point Part I

**Notes:** The ' **Warning** ' covers most of what I want to say here. So just make sure you read that and the end notes! I really want to know what you think to this, I'm undergoing big change with how this story will progress here and I really want you all to tell me what you think.

 **paolotejadaj -** More spice incoming! Not gonna be a major thing in this story, but it'll be there, these are teenagers being driven by hormones after all xD

 **Bedrock -** STARCOOOOO!

 **InfiniteClockWise -** Logical: Ah, thanks for the review - it really means a lot.  
Realistic: **STARRRRRCOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO**

 **Noobl2 -** Yup, fast but quality.. I'm not sure, I finished this chapter off at 2AM. So I'm not thinking properly, I've got a plan but I'm not sure if it's the right way to go.

 **Malcolm - _S_ _P_ _I_ _C_ _E_**

 **Lilly -** Your review didn't show up int he section but it did come through to my emails :) Yeah... I know, and I'll go into it in the End Notes. I don't want my story to end up perverted and needless, meaningless sex for the hell of it, I try to make sure that everything in this story has a meaning, meaning not game-changing stuff all the time, but it's never really meaningless. There may end up being sexual acts... Not in ridiculous detail like my lemon story, jesus christ that was painful. eugh... Anyway, thanks for the support and warning! I'll keep an eye out for that ;)

 **Warning:** Summary: The story is going 'M' to add more freedom to me, **but do tell me if you don't like this!** What I love about fanfic is that I'm affected by how you want this story to go, if a lot of you say you want something or dislike something – I'll change it! P.S. I'm starting with a bang!

Oh, and also! I'll be putting 3 Bold ***** to signify 'Spice' scenes if you want to avoid them ;)

* * *

 _ **Same Night – Matt**_

After helping get Star back to Marco's room, Matt decided that he had enough troubles for one day and proceeded to recede to his own domain. His room was at the end of the hallway, the bathroom was a little larger because of it; he didn't mind the extra space at all. His body was rather active considering he had spent most of the evening firing arrows, his fingertips were slightly throbbing from it. As he approached the door he fumbled around in his left pocket for the key, eventually picking it out after a few miss-tries, all the keys were golden and each had a unique pattern engraved into the circular base to identify who's it was.

He opened the door with a soft whoosh and moved inwards, he created a light source and moved to open his curtains, when they were drawn he took a deep sigh – "Awfully big sigh." A startling voice awoke Matt into a state of alarm, his head spun around to meet the intruder. A long, pink-haired girl was sitting in an armchair in a rather suggestive pose, a thin nightgown emphasised all the girl's curves, she was sitting in such a position that her thighs were on-display for the male teen's eyes to feast-upon.

"When did you get in here?" He asked the princess.

"Don't be so cold," 'Phelia cooed, "Do you know how long I've been waiting here?" She put on a pout. Matt moved for his bed and took a sit down.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" He groaned, rubbing his forehead.  
 *******

The girl stood up at this and shuffled her way forward, he noted that she wasn't wearing anything underneath the skimpily dress, "You're the one that started this." it seemed the plan to distract Ophelia for a few hours back in 'Operation: Confession' worked a little too well and now she thought Matt and herself were somewhat of an item, somewhat of makeout-buddies. Regardless, Matthew wasn't interested in her 'womanly-charms'.

"Yeah, I suppose I did." He chuckled and grabbed her by the waist, bringing her down into a lustful kiss which only furthered their – rela-tion..ship… What? Wait, were they an item? This—This isn't how it was meant… I mean, really?! Wait so… Oh, it seems all the time they spent together had actually led Matt to develop something. "Come here you." He moaned and pulled her into an even deeper kiss, dragging her down to his core and rolling her over on the bed.

"Ooo, getting a tad aggressive tonight Matty?" He stopped for a moment and stared back into her eyes seriously.

"You know I hate the name Matty." He said in a commanding voice, a few inches from her face, she leaned up and whispered into his ear with a wicked smile.

"I know." She locked her legs around his waist and begged for more than kisses, she tore off the garments which protected his torso and began to feel her way around his skin. The candle light had gone out by now, the moonlight was the only source of visibility. Timmings couldn't hold back any longer and returned the groping, his sore hands tickled down her arms and around her back, unclasping the dress from the neck and letting it slide off to reveal a voluptuous body that any man would die to be with, his hands explored all the crevices – making her moan in delight. Sharp gasps were emitted by the youthful harlot. Ophelia had her head back into the pillow now, her toes had begun to crinkle up from the mass amounts of pleasure given by just his hands.

Their lips were locked in a ferocious battle still, "Ou waunt vin" Ophelia gasped between their clashes – on cue she reversed it and took control of the battlefield. Pushing him back and releasing his waist from her legs capture, he fell with a *omf* on the bed and she straddled on top of him. The two breathed heavily for a moment, locked in an intense stare. Sweat began to glisten on their bodies from the moon, that was when 'Phe felt a small pressure from below her, a devious smile befell her face and she giggled. "I guess I already won."

"Shut up and get down here." He with a smile of his own.

"Gladly." She sung and dropped down to continue their battle. Eventually, it led to grinding against each other, their top halves were completely bare against one another, meanwhile their lower halves still had clothing remaining.

Matthew made a move to advance to the next step, but Ophelia stopped him before he could get much farther, "Listen, I may be a little kinky. But I'm not going to give my chastity away so easily, I'm afraid you'll have to wait." She finished with a devilish smile. He was about to retort but she just pressured him into another tantalising touch of lips.

A flurry of moans and gasps lasted for a long while, the two bounced all over the bed attacking each other, until at one point, they had both been burnt out and fell unconscious intertwined with one another under the covers of a ruffled duvet.  
 *******

 _ **Morning – 7AM**_

Matt was the first to awake, it took him a moment to fully comprehend what had happened last night. He blinked a few times and looked over to his left, a pink blob was pushed against him, grappling him with soft, silky legs. He breathed heavily and somewhat regretted what he did, truth was, he had taken a very intimate relationship with Ophelia in the past few days. He didn't agree with what she did to Star, but he had hopes that she could change, she could be a better person. _She's really cute when asleep._ He thought to himself, gently caressing the princess' hair.

 _ **Same Time – Marco's Room**_

Star was the first to wake up, her small slender frame was held closely by her newfound love. She nuzzled further into Marco's shirt; enjoying the peace and quiet a little longer, she noticed that the sun had begun to shine in through the seven-foot windows, a large pattern was painted on the ground due to it. The Princess' golden hair was frazzled slightly, it puffed up in Marco's face, he didn't mind though – the smell of her hair soothed him, knowing that she was right there, in front of him. The male teen hadn't awoken yet, Star decided it'd be best to not wake him, let him sleep – he deserves it.

The archery competition wouldn't begin for another few hours, they had time to bathe in the tranquillity.

 _ **Couple Hours Later**_

Marco came to with a slur of murmurs, none of which were really decipherable, once his eyes fluttered open, he took a large yawn to clear his mind for the day ahead. That's when he became aware of the small yellow fur-ball buried deep into his hold. A massive blush rushed to his face when he realised what happened last night, the two kissed for quite a while and slept in the same bed… But this time fully conscious. "Star?" He asked quietly, not wanting to wake the young Butterfly if she was still hibernating.

"Hmm?" She groaned back, head shuffling slightly on his arm. The Diaz had a small grin watching the young girl stir awake.

"Wake up sleepy-head" he cooed, "It's time to start the day."

"Just 5 more minutes…" She begged, the teen reared her head around to face Marco. The girl put on a little puppy-dog face and the boy broke.

He conceded, "Fine. But only 5, we need to get up and get ready." She happily looked at the poor boy and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, she then turned back around and dug herself back into Marco's body hold.

 _ **30 Minutes Later**_

"Star… You said 5 minutes, 30 minutes ago…" He groaned, getting slightly frustrated with the annoying-cuteness the girl had.

"Just a couple more mins Marco."

"Nope. I need to get up now, I haven't even had breakfast yet." He commanded, the girl pouted for a second but reluctantly sat up and moved away. "Thank you." He called as he jumped out of bed and dove into the shower, it took him about 5 minutes to get clean and then get out. Once out, he noticed that Star was still on the bed, looking at him in his towel.

"Why don't you come back to bed?" She beseeched, on all fours.

"Not gonna fall for it Star. Now go away while I change." Marco demanded as he made a shooing motion with his hands. A small 'tsk' escaped her and she stormed off into the smaller part of the room, waiting for the boy to finish changing. "No peeking!" He shouted and heard a little 'yelp' before a shutting noise. _Little minx._

A few minutes flew by and Marco was ready to hit the buffet for food. He wished Star a happy day and darted out of the room, tying his tie as he ran for the stairs.

 _ **Dining Hall**_

There was a lot of bustle this early in the morning, it was the time where those who wake up early were just about to leave, and those who wake up late just made it into the hall. The teen scanned the room for his allies before swiftly moving over to them, he saw them sitting on one of the central tables with a bowl of soup for each of them. "Hey guys!" He called out. The two companions looked over at the sound of their leader's voice. The two greeted their friend with a friendly tone and invited him to sit down, he chose to sit next to Alfonzo. "What did you guys get up to last night?"

Al was the first to respond, a quick, dull and blunt "Sleep."

Matthew took a second, he stirred his soup for a moment before answering, "I was just chilling out, trying to relax after all that yesterday." His eyes still didn't meet Marco's fully, how could he possibly face Marco knowing what Ophelia has done to Star. Matt didn't love 'Phe, but he definitely grew an attachment towards her from being in contact so long. She wasn't as bad as she seems, but he doubted that it'd make much difference to Marco.

The Diaz accepted the answer and ordered a soup for himself, that was when he observed something strange with Matt's face, "Say Matt, have you always had that mark on your face?" A sharp gulp ensued from Timmings and he acted dumb about it all.

"What on my face?"

"There, next to your lip. It looks like a bite mark…" Matt choked a second and took a large sip of water.

"Oh yeah that, I just scratched myself on one of the arrows yesterday. No big deal really!" Marco didn't really want to pry, they were practising for quite some time even after it got dark, it wasn't that much of a stretch to say he might've cut himself on one of the arrows at some point.

The awkward tension dispelled shortly after Marco was brought his food, the three began to move into a more natural rhythm and went back to how they usually interacted. A slight nagging sensation hit Marco from the back of his head, something wasn't right with Matt and he needed to figure out what.

 _ **Marco's Room**_

A few harsh knocks grabbed Star's attention as she sat at a desk looking out the window. Her immediate thought was to hide from the intruder, she couldn't be seen in Marco's room, not by anyone. That was until she heard the voice, "Princess!" A hushed cry called, it repeated, "Star!" The holder of the voice was Glossaryck, he tapped on the door a few more times before it opened with a sly creak. The man grabbed a hold of the door and pushed it open, the two met eyes for a second before the old man bent down to embrace Star in a hug. A murmur came from Star's throat, she was taken aback by the sudden display of affection from her long-time friend turned Uncle. "I heard from Emilia what Ophelia did to you, I'm so happy you're safe!" A tremor occurred in Star's bottom lip, she shallowed harshly and responded.

"I-I'm fine." She stuttered before coming to her senses and returning the embrace to Glossy. "What are you doing here?"

"How could I sit by idly after hearing what you went through…" He whispered, his eyes were crushed shut, solely focusing on the blonde blob that was stood in his arms. "Star." He started before pushing her back and holding her firmly, each hand on both her shoulders. The man directly addressed her, "You need to stop this, the feud you have going on. It's not safe for you in the castle anymore, people are whispering - the royals are becoming less cautious. We can get your stuff together and escape tonight, I know some friends up North they can take care of you – they're an odd bunch but I'm sure that they'd take good care of you, I've already planned an escape for it, I'—"

"Woah woah woah!" She exclaimed repeatedly, arms flailing in the air. "I can't just up and leave, I'm still needed here." There was a strange look in the man's eyes, he seemed distressed, almost in peril.

"What? These guys, they've known you for what? A week! Your life is far more important than some teenage boys!"

"Teenage boy!" She corrected, "Listen I don't know what's gotten into you, but I can't leave. I won't leave, I need to finish this." Star was adamant in her decision and Glossaryck knew this, he had known Star for a long time, from the time she could crawl he's been looking over her.

The grey-haired geezer was fully aware that he couldn't convince her, "I'm just worried about you…" He looked down at the floor, "I'm worried about you."

The Butterfly brought him into another one of her famous hugs, "I know… But it'll be fine! We've got a plan, it'll work."

' _It has to.'_

The two talked for the remainder of the hour, eventually Glossaryck began to get his things together, "Star, I love you ya'know. Please promise me you'll be safe." The teen wanted to reply with 'I will.' However, a lump formed in her throat and blocked the words before they could be formed, a moment passed by and she could only look at the man with apologetic eyes. Glossy took a deep breath and blinked, "Yep. Okay…" He slowly strolled to the door and left.

"Thankyou." She choked once he was outside, it was rugged and broken.

 _ **Outside Room**_

After closing the door, the librarian took a deep inhale and steeled himself. He begun to motion himself to the staircase but just as he was about to enter onto the steps, Ophelia stopped him. She was fully dressed now, and came from her room up top. "Well well, what's an insect doing in a birdhouse?" She joked.

"I could ask the same to you." He responded, the two stared for a while, neither party backing down.

…

"Ha. Funny." She continued, "see Glossy. I know you're working with Star and Marco. I know you've helped them, and I also know that you know too much. Not about this little feud; no no no, this is nothing. What I'm thinking, is that you offer too much of an advantage for them – so what I propose is you leave the castle, get banished, and start a new life somewhere. Maybe meet a woman or two, lord knows what woman would have you though." She giggled.

"You want me to pack my things up and just leave? Like that." His voice had become sarcastic.

"Oh heaven's no!" She cried, rubbing her head, "No. I want you to just leave." 'Phe finished with a sadistic smile.

"Ohohoh?" He chuckled, "You think I'd accept that, why?"

A figure approached Glossy from the back, silently, "I didn't. Which is my back up was to permanently remove you from the equation, at least you'll go out with a bang." A sharp pain hit Glossaryck in the neck, as he spun around to face his attacker, he noticed a ball of green hair – that what was his vision became blurry and he began to fall. The figure waved its hand at the man before he fell into a drug-induced slumber.

 _ **Hall – 12PM**_

All the chosen were lining up to make their way to the archery grounds, the time for shooting had arrived and everyone was slightly excited. The first job was to draw lots to decide what order everyone would shoot in. Marco ended up 4th, Matt 6th and Alfonzo 10th.

All of them made their way out and into the scorching sun, it was a very hot day today. There were hardly any clouds in sight, maybe a few balls of white held up in the sky but there wasn't an awful lot to protect them from the sun's beam. Instantly, Marco felt like he just stepped into a sauna, luckily they all wore lighter clothing today due to the nature of the activities.

It took about 10 minutes to get to the site, once there, the Chosen were told to wait on standby for the royals to arrive. The servants brought refreshments and other goods to munch on, Emilia came up to Marco with her usual smile and chirpiness, "Heyo Boss!" She cried, the woman was holding a small tray which held a similarly-sized variety of beverages. It seemed one resembled a glass of orange juice, another plain water, one was apple juice and there were a few more – none of which were really decipherable to the working-class citizen.

"What did I say about calling me that?" Marco groaned in complaint once more.

"Yes sir!" She replied in a care-free manner, in response the Diaz just sighed heavily and let the conversation move along. "What drink would you like?" She asked.

"Water is fine." He stated, to which Em looked at him questioningly for a moment. "Water is good for you! It's better than that other stuff." She still didn't look convinced as to why he picked the most boring choice.

 _ **Over to Matthew**_

He had distanced himself from Marco for a little while. To be honest, he wasn't 100% sure how to deal with him, he liked Marco. But, he also had developed something a bit deeper for Ophelia too… How was he supposed to break the news to Marco that he had non-ironically fallen for the Diaz's worst nightmare?

To try and keep himself occupied, he spent the most of the prep-phase doing just that, he grabbed a coconut milk drink from the tray and began to sharpen his arrows, wanting to distract himself from anything. Easier said than done, a small whisper attracted his attention, when he looked behind him – the boy was greeted by none other than the incarnation of deathly despair: Ophelia. "How you doing?" She asked, leaning slightly over his shoulder to watch the teen's actions.

"I'm sharpening arrows, to give me a better chance of winning this thing." He replied, not looking up from the head he was brushing up on.

"You know…" She started, dragging on the 'www' part, "I was thinking, and 'who would know'? Really. So, I decided that if you get 3 bullseyes – " She got close to his ear and whispered seductively, "you can do, what, ever, you, like, to-night." The girl broke up each word to make it drag on his a lewd voice.

"Sure you want to make that promise?" He asked confidently.

"Ohoh? Feeling good are we? Okay then, 5 bullseyes." The girl upped her game to tease the youngster.

"No wait, I was jok-" He turned around to face her, but she had already begun to move away and meld in with the other Chosen. He sighed deeply, "I'm not a miracle-worker."

 _ **Marco**_

After finishing his meetup chat with Emilia, he found Alfonzo – however, the two only got to talk about a couple things before the trumpets begun and the royals appeared. King River stood mighty and proud, not making eye-contact with anyone. Instead he started to analyse the bows from a distance, Queen Moon was to his right, looking straight ahead, no emotion on her face. It was probably how she was told to act in public, be there as a pretty face, nothing more. Marco and Moon hadn't really talked in a couple of days by now, it had all been so busy that he forgot to catch up with her and thank the Queen for her cooperation in getting Markus' story.

River made a short speech and then it disbanded, the announcer revealed that the King would make the first shot, seeing as he was an ex-hunter and near-enough professional with a bow.

That was when a slight tap on the shoulder acquired Marco's attention, "hmm?" He asked before looking around to meet a pair of green-eyes, the boy put on a stern face and looked dead-ahead, not wanting to give her much attention. "'Phe." He greeted coldly.

"Listen Marrrco, I'm not here to make an enemy, I'm here to ask if you're excited about the fireworks and bonfire tonight?" A puzzled look flashed on the boy's face.

"There's a bonfire too?" He asked.

"We decided to put one in this time at the end of the display, finish off with a bang ya'know." He couldn't see it, but the girl had a mischievous grin plastered on her face. The boy was about to ask why she sounded so sinister when saying 'bang' but before he could, she vanished from his side.

"Tsk, bitch." He moaned before looking back up to River to see his shots. The first hit a dead bulls-eye, the second… *WHOOSH* Impaled the first… And the final one he shot, shattered the centre of the target. _Oh no, this isn't looking good for me_

The first contender was brought to the front now, each person had 4 sets (3 arrows per set). Each time varied the distance from the shooting point, after each set, it would move onto the next in line. Marco took the time he had before himself to talk to Moon.

"Hey Queen." He said secretively, not making eye-contact but standing in a vicinity where she would hear him.

"Marco." She greeted, sipping on her champagne glass.

"Have you been to see Star recently?" He asked, wondering as to the why the communication had shut down between them.

"No I thought it'd be best to lie-low for a while, is she okay?" The mother asked in concern for her daughter.

"She's been through a rough couple days, you could probably sneak away for a hour here right? I'm sure she'd enjoy your company right about now." The boy had to keep his eyes somewhat shut, the sun seemed rather aggressive today.

"Very well, I've been wanting to talk to her anyway." The Queen finished her drink swiftly and excused herself from the event, _Two birds one stone._ Marco thought to himself, he had Star protected by Moon and Moon away from the event.

"Marco Diaz!" The announcer called out, _Well here goes nothing._

* * *

 **End Notes:** That's it... Part 1 of 2, I was gonna make this chapter the full day, but this was already like 3800 words and that would've taken up too much time. And I didn't want to waste a lot if you guys don't like this one, yes I know I'm changing a lot! **Please tell me what you think in reviews, what can I change? I will rewrite this chapter if I have to because this is not the only way to go about a good story. I could very easily make something else that follows another path!**

 **Review!** This time most important than any other, this will be a turning point for me as an author and the story itself. And I would really appreciate a lot of feedback on what I'm doing right and wrong! I know I can't appease everyone, but I'd like to get a very solid story by the end of this - so I'm asking for literally anything that you can tell me what to improve on! Even if I disagree or don't end up siding with you, I'd like to know every angle I can!

Thank you all for sticking with me, through thick and thin, I'll be back soon with Part 2  
vK~

P.S. Longest chapter so far :D


	18. Turning Point Part II

**Notes:** Heyo I'm back! Took a little while, and I tried to finish this chapter yesterday but it got to 5am and I thought... Oh dear, I can't do this xD So it came out today, hope you enjoy 3

 **InfiniteClockWise:** I hope they use protection too, I don't know if I can make it as 'epic' as the Brave one but I'll try my best :) It's hard to write slow motion :P - And yeah, I stuck with the kinky one, and I'm not too sure if I want Ophelia to have a redemption. We'll have to see what happens :3

 **Keyblade:** Haha, I really enjoyed reading your reactions to most of the chapters :) And yup, maybe Markus might make a mega comeback (I really liked the alliteration so I put 'mega' at the end :P I'm childish)

 **Guest W/TheBigReview -** Yeah it might not be 'M', but I'm a noob writer and wanted to be safe :P Yup, Starco isn't ready yet, and it is stupid that she would trust Marco so much, but I don't think that it's just Marco she trusts. A part of her wants to stay in the castle and bring down the monarchy, perhaps Marco is an enabling-device she can use for that goal? Hormones are not love, I agree completely, she is a 16 year old girl though xD I think we all were run by emotions at some point or another - the girls has been denied any kind of relationship with a male of her own age forever, I thought she wouldn't want to lose that. Finally, going backwards, I know Starco isn't ready - but the problem is, this entire story revolves around 2 weeks. You can't write love in 2 weeks so I had to cut corners in some places, yup, I might have a sequel where they escape and come back to finish it off with Ophelia/Daddy dearest, who knows. But for them to trust each other to do that I need a really trusting relationship :)

Anywhoo, that's all from me! :) **Enjoy~**

* * *

 _ **Star's Room**_

The girl was mulling over what Glossaryck said to her earlier, had she made the right choice? She liked Marco… But, she trusted Glossaryck. The girl didn't want to leave either party hanging, she wanted to take back the throne for herself and her mother, rid themselves of the king and Ophelia for good; but were those really her desires? Was she just whisked up in a whirlpool of-

A faint knock followed by the sound of an old door creaking its way open notified Star of an intruder. A light blue dress covered most of the door way, trimmed with a darker shade and light pearls dotted throughout: It was her mother. "Oh… Hi mom." She said solemnly as the Butterfly proceeded to relax on her bed with a book in hand.

"Hello sweetie." The mother cooed softly, the Queen stepped forward to sit down on the edge of the bed, "Has Glossaryck come to talk to you yet?" This captured Star's attention. _How did she know Glossy came earlier?_

"What do you mean?" The Princess asked questioningly, "How did you know he was here?" She put the book face down on her chest now, the girl wore he famous light green dress with a pink octopus scrawled on it.

The mother chuckled and looked at her daughter, "Who do you think was willing to help him get you out? None of the maids would do that." A look of realisation dawned on Star, Glossaryck was a librarian, sure he knew a few tricks in the castle but he couldn't single-handedly get Star out unnoticed. "It was my plan to get you out, it's no longer safe here… Your father, well, he's not happy – fist of all," The older man scratched her neck and had a thoughtful look on her face, "and secondly, 'Phe has been experimenting for a while, and I think she's finally found out that she could have you killed if she so desired… I didn't notice earlier, however, with everything that's gone on recently—" The mother had her eyes locked on Star's, the book fell off Star's chest and closed shut. The ghost of Glossaryck flashed through Star's eyes when she looked at her mother, both of them wanted her gone for her own safety. She didn't want to leave though.

"Mom I don't want to leave, I want to stay and fight! If I run away then I'm still trapped, I'd always be on the run, living a lie! I don't want that kind of life—"

"But it'd be a life." Her mother intervened, "You'd be alive and that's all that matters." It always ended up like this, any hopes of a civil conversation were flattened the moment either of them opened their mouths, a ticking bomb waiting to go off in every conversation. In Star's stupid, hormonal mind – it took her a while to piece it together properly, but finally she understood the reason why her mother and her had these kinds of discussions. Why she couldn't seem to move anywhere without sneaking around or having a massive fight.

 _All I have to do is get rid of Ophelia._

Was the whimsical, not entirely correct but not wrong answer she came up with, a life in captivity isn't a life - it's a prolonged death and Star didn't like it one bit. "Mom, I know you're trying to look out for me," the Princess wore a sweet, innocent smile but an underlying bloodlust protruded through every pore. "But I'm staying here, and I'm going to win. I see where you and Glossy are coming from, however, this is my once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Marco is my once-in-a-lifetime chance to end this, I don't think I'll ever see outsiders again for the rest of my pathetic life if I let the Choosing slip away."

The girl might've been suicidal, perhaps a little maddened, nonetheless she had made up her mind.

 _ **Archery Competition**_

"Marco Diaz!" The announcer called, _Well here goes nothing._ The teen thought to himself as he grabbed a hold of the bow and progressed to the centre point. The whispers began as he moved, 'Haha, a worker-class, I'll bet he misses by 50 yards.' 'Look at the peasant trying to fit in.' 'He's going to suck.' The boy didn't need to respond. The boy felt strangely calm, as if his body had fell into an autopilot. All his muscles felt surprisingly responsive.

 _All I have to do is crush them._

He couldn't see anything other than his destination, all faces blurred into a mass of grey. The Diaz grasped his bow tightly and plucked a feathered arrow from the quiver. Banishing any thoughts of doubt from his head, the man spread his feet apart – strong like a mountain, twisted his torso, lined the bow up and pulled the arrow to fit snuggly in the string.

' _Perfect form.'_ Matt thought to himself, he was standing by the punch. He himself had fulfilled 1/5th of his deal to Ophelia. 1 Bullseye down, 4 more to go. They had each person fire 1 shot and then move onto the next contender, going around in a loop with each iteration gradually getting a target further away. He was currently in 1st.

Marco banished thoughts of failure from his psyche, leaving only a calm, dangerous, rampaging sea in their demise. _I can pull it further._ He said to himself, the string beginning to leave a slight whine in the extension. _That'll do._ The 'pleb' waited a moment, his karate lessons had taught him the importance of waiting for a perfect moment to strike. Once the wind had stopped its fluttering, he took a deep breath in, and out, he released the arrow emotionlessly. Somehow, when it was released, he could've sworn that he saw the string collapse in on itself, a harsh whip produced as the arrow launched itself – tearing through the opposing air and leaving a high-pitched whistle before embedding itself 3cm from a bullseye.

Any whispers of the boy immediately ceased, leaving a stunned crowd before the boy snapped out of his daze in amazement of what he just did. Turning around to face people he just chuckled slightly "Beginner's luck I guess." _What the hell was that?_ He thought to himself making his way over to Alfonzo who was up next.

"Al-Alfonzo Dolittle!" The announcer called, it took him a moment, he was slightly stunned by the performance, meanwhile, Emilia was proudly smiling to herself and her co-workers.

"That's my boy!" She happily clapped. Phil, her annoying man-friend elbowed her in the side. "I mean, very good shot sir!" The servant corrected, putting a finger on her lips and wearing a professional façade.

"Wow that was amazing!" The Dolittle said to Marco as he passed the teen.

"Oh no, it really was beginner's luck." He responded sheepishly, "Now go show them a bullseye."

"Aye aye captain." Al wore a determined face and moved up to the stage.

King River was focused on Marco still, the strange worker-class who made it in with Alfonzo Dolittle… What a unique pair of people. His hunter's intuition was telling him that there was going to be trouble brewing with those two around, but his egotistical king side was demanding that he accepts their challenge and crush them publicly.

Alfonzo arrived on the scene, but no one was whispering – after experiencing what they just saw, it was hard for any of them to talk negatively about the 'wild cards'. All of them were holding their breaths at what could transpire in just a few moments, their worries were proven to be truthful. The boy, likewise to the Diaz, had a perfect shot: A bullseye. Upon entering the straw target, a few flakes of dust exploded from the surface demonstrating just how devastating his shot was. This put Al and Matt joint 1st and Marco at 3rd.

"Hey Marco!" Matt called as he approached the other teen with a glass of punch in-tow, "That was a good shot earlier, your form was perfect!" He cried, the Diaz shrugged and stuck with his excuse that the shot was purely luck. That was when Alfonzo came down to greet the other two, "you too Al! That was a great shot."

The rest of the event passed by rather quickly, on the second try though, Marco couldn't seem to find the same kind of focus he had earlier. His body wouldn't move the way it did and he couldn't aim nearly as well as before, luckily, his amazing first shot did him a favour and still placed him in the top 8 at the end. Alfonzo and Matt had battled for the title the entire time, it was mostly punch for punch until the last round where the pressure and inexperience had caught up with Al and the boy had slipped with the arrow before it was fully lined up and ended up missing the bullseye by ~10cm. It was mostly a friendly rivalry between the two, Matthew had finished his quest to score 5 bullseyes. ' _That's a win for me.'_ He thought to himself, glancing at Ophelia after scoring the 5th one who simply looked at him with an unimpressed face before returning to the Chosen. Truth be told, she had only done that to get on his nerves; it worked like a charm.

The trio of teens met up afterwards to congratulate one another on their performances, "That was some amazing shooting Al." Matt said while instigating a high-five. The announcer called shortly after.

"Attention everyone!" He had a high-pitched voice that was somewhat nasally, blonde, short hair which radiated formality and bubbly-ness "We will now proceed with the feast, the time is currently 1600 hours and the fireworks will commence at 1900 hours. Please enjoy the food, the royalty will be dining among you today so make a good impression." With all said and done he left the stage, most of the others began to talk between themselves, but Marco kept an eye on the announcer a little longer. Once off the stage he walked between two lovely lady servants and grabbed on their waists, walking back towards the castle… _Who the hell isn't corrupt here…_ The boy thought.

Shortly after, Emilia tapped Marco on the shoulder as he was sat down with his friends. "Excuse me, can I steal Mr Diaz from you guys for a second?" The other two paused for a moment before nodding their heads, both mouths filled with an assortment of meat. It sure was hunger-inducing: Archery.

"What is it Em?" Marco asked when they were out of ear-range.

The girl brought Marco into a close whisper, "I've heard rumours Marco. That Kelly girl? The one who's mysteriously showed up mid-choosing, she isn't just a servant… Some are claiming that she's an assassin – I'm not sure how true they are, but regardless, be careful. To think they'd hire a professional silent-killer…" The Diaz was shocked, he couldn't think of anything to say. It didn't change what he had to do at the end of the day, he should've suspected that Ophelia would hire some sort of backup, she never seemed like one to play fair.

"As if we didn't have enough to deal with, a deranged Princess, a monstrous King and now a literal assassin." He couldn't help but slightly chuckle at the predicament, what's next? A Widow? Wouldn't that be something, a demon of hell… "Yeah okay, I'll inform the other guys about her. See you in a bit Em."

"Aye boss!" She cheered, the teen sighed in the title she gave him, he joined the others back at the table and told them about the new info regarding Kelly – if that was her real name.

"An assassin?!" Matthew cried louder than he should've, to which the other two aggressively shushed him.

"But it's still just a theory, right?" Alfonzo asked.

Marco nodded, "yeah, but just in case I wanted to let you guys know about it."

The rest of their meal went without a hitch, afterwards, Matt left to go talk to Ophelia. He told the other two that he was going to see if he can question her about the assassin but in reality, he was going to be a lot more forceful with his questioning than the other two imagined. Meanwhile, Marco noticed that Queen Moon had arrived back, the sun was lowering and it was almost time for a massive bonfire to be alight. The Dolittle wanted to mingle more with the other chosen, any allies are good allies.

A short while later, whilst Marco was sipping on fruit juice, an ominous aura alerted him and he spun around to greet a young greenette. "You." He choked out.

"Aye, little old me." The lass greeted with a small grin, "I hear you've been busy lately." The girl was fumbling around with something behind her back but Marco couldn't quite pick up on it due to the lighting.

"I've uh… Been doing stuff…" He said, blinking a few times – still in shock that he might be talking to an assassin.

"You're nervous." The girl observed, Marco gulped which only made the charming girl giggle. "Don't worry I'm not here to kill you… Yet." This put the Diaz into a slightly suffocating state, "haha don't be so uptight, I'm just messing with ya."

"oh…" He responded. Simultaneously, the announcer spoke back up – he had a small hint of red lipstick covering his face.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" He cried, "It's now time for the fireworks!" A flurry of cheers came from everyone, including Ophelia and the King who were more than amped up to see some fire, "We'll start things off with a bang with the massive bonfire! My leadership, if you would." The King moved forward to grab a flaming arrow which he'd use to light the immense statue of wooden mishaps covered in oil.

"Ooo it's about to start." Kelly noted before turning to Marco face-to-face. "One more thing Marco," she brought the thing she was shuffling behind her back: A pack of cards, "do you know what one of the most basic trades in magic is? It's misdirection." She said as the girl finished shuffling and held her right hand up to Marco which held the deck of cards, "it's the ability to draw someone's attention to one place, while you prepare something in another place… Useful, but not entirely by itself. You see, if you really want to get the most out of it, you need extra skills, for example, sleight of hand." The girl finished as she shook the deck of cards held up to Marco and made an ace mysteriously appear at the front of the deck.

"Why are you telling me this?" He sounded perplexed as to why the assassin (which was now pretty much confirmed) would teach him this.

"Because my dear sir, you're looking over here… And not looking over there." The boy followed Kell's now extended arm to see an Ophelia with a wicked smile painted on her, and then the King who also had a devious smile on his face – the arrow had been pulled back now. _What are they…_ "What are they looking at?" The girl intervened his thoughts, "You see, that's not just a bonfire over there." Still curious as to what she meant the guy looked for another answer, "It's a grave." _What does she mea—_ The boy looked further into the bonfire, that was when he noticed something barbaric. Savage, absolute evil. Everything on there. It was all books and shelves from the library. "Seeing it now? Good luck saving him." _No._

The Diaz attempted to run, he dropped the punch and made a B-line for the tower of knowledge. The other Chosen spotted him running like a madman, "Marco what are you—" Al cried as the pursuing teen chased past him.

"Stop!" Marco cried to the king, _God dammit these stupid clothes won't let me run, MOVE LEGS!_ The boy tried with every ounce of being to make it, but it was at least 200 metres away and the arrow had just been released. A harsh whiz ruptured past Marco's ear and caused him to fall down with a thud, by the time he lifted his face out the dirt the arrow made contact; a gigantic boom echoed through the fields as the Diaz had been thrown back a few metres. "NOOOOOO!" He screamed but the noise had been cancelled by the explosion, all that was left was a flaming mountain of wood. Marco had fallen to his knees and despair reverberated around his insides, he hadn't known Glossaryck for long – but he was a nice old man. He didn't do anything wrong, he served the castle for decades and this was his payment?

 _ **5 Minutes Earlier – Glossaryck**_

The old man awoke choking, he couldn't move his lungs too much from the pile of books toppled on his chest. _Oh fuck. This isn't good._ He noted, trying to collect anything he could. The man could just about see through a small gap and see the feast on-going about 300 metres away. He released what was going on now, how he was about to be silenced permanently for what he knew, this was a risk he had to take for Star… The man only wished that Star had taken him up on the offer, but he knew she loved him. Of course he knew and no matter what, he loved her – like a daughter he never had. "This. Sucks." He cried out once more, his beard had been caught underneath a table and pulled some hairs out _Ouch, can't even die in peace huh. Dick move there king…_

He knew that his time was coming to an end shortly, he saw the fiery arrow being passed onto the King in preparation for the shot, could he leave a message for Star? No. Anything would just get swallowed up in flames, he hadn't the breath to shout something out.

"stop." Was a faint sound he heard, it was a ways away – one final attempt he moved his head and saw a boy sprinting with all he had for the monument. _Marco? Heh, what a kid, trying to save an old-geezer like me… Maybe he isn't so—_ A sudden whoosh encumbered the pillar, the old guy had the wind knocked out of him, that's where he began to feel the heat rising. He was pretty the explosion caught something to fall on his leg. _This is it then… Eh, this world is a shitshow in the end… I hope I meet you again someday Star Butterfly, and perhaps you too Marco Diaz. Just don't come see me too soon, I'd hate you guys for that._

With those final words uttered to himself, he allowed the flames to pass over the wood and onto his clothes, leaving the world with small regrets but many more fond memories.

* * *

 **End Notes:** And with that, we have our first death. Rest in peace Glossaryck, we're entering the end game now.

Did you enjoy? Did you hate? Tell me in the reviews! Anything is accepted, feel free to voice all your opinions and I'll respond in the next chapter :D

 **See ya~**


	19. A New Day

Hey. It's me. I've been gone for a long time, and I'm not really sure if any of you will pick the story back up… Heck I don't even know if I'll be picking the story up, this thing has nagged me for so long, and I really love the story. I adore what I've written and am proud of it. I really want to see it finished; I could sit here and type all the excuses I have for why I haven't worked on it these past… months... Wow it has been a while: But that's not what you're here for. I have been a terrible author, and I'm still learning; this is my first story that has gone anywhere, it's over 50k words right now! I have another announcement to make in the epilogue but right now: I present, Chapter 19.

 **Reviews:**

To everyone, Celestialfyxen, thedarkone2002, ravangel As I said, I've been a terrible author, thanks for sticking with me and reading though 3

SixStringBass Your review helped me a lot, I'm not a good author in terms of technicality either, I've never made a story this large before so it really means a lot when I get criticism like yours, thank you so much - I'll try my best to be a better author in terms of characters and story!

Guest (Sorry I don't know how to specify you, chapter 18, Aug. 13th 2018) Yes! The romance isn't great, there's really no way for me to write a successful romantic connection between 2 people in the space of 2 weeks (in-world) and keep the action/drama pumping for other stuff. There's simply not enough time to dedicate to the two of them, I have to keep it moving. So I guess I'm using that psychological study that stated when two people are in life or death situations they tend to develop more romantic feelings for one another out of fear of loneliness when they die. Maybe Marco doesn't want to admit it yet but he's scared of dying.

InfiniteClockWise I do indeed like the 'kinky one' better myself, who knows, maybe Ophelia will get a redemption arc, or not... Hmmm? :)

* * *

 **Star's Room – Morning After**

A darkness enveloped the girl's vicinity.

A coldness enveloped the girl's heart.

And a longing pain encumbered her will to move.

The girl found it hard to get angry with the king or Ophelia, she found it difficult to even piece thoughts together; _not fair… why him, he was just the librarian… he was… my only friend…_ She had spent the night bawling her eyes out, red patches smudged themselves on her visage.

 **Outside Star's Room – Post-Bonfire, Night**

Marco had informed Matthew and Alfonzo about the death of the old man; at first, they were taken aback by what they witnessed. The thought of someone burning alive in that thing petrified Al. Matthew had accompanied Marco to Star's room, trying to brainstorm how they'd break the news to her. Marco had seen Ophelia and Matt whispering before the arrow competition and wondered if there was something more to it, but disregarded it at the current time. He had more pressing concerns, "Matt I think you should let me handle this one alone." Matthew looked up for a moment at Marco but then agreed, he left, in search of answers from one of the culprits.

 _*Sigh* how am I even meant to break this kind of thing to her?_ The boy was stood outside the mahogany door now, his hand trembling as he reached to knock. *Knock knock* A bouncy Star tore the door open, "MARCO!" She screamed, embracing him into a hug "I saw the bonfire! It was super exciting! Like BOOM and POW!" Her room was poised as to not see the side where the archery competition happened, hence she couldn't have seen Marco running for the bonfire.

"Yeah…"

"What's wrong?" She asked.

"Listen, Star… I have to talk to you about something, and it's… not pleasant." He guided her to the bed and sat her down.

"What is it?" She asked, still joyful but somewhat worried.

"The Princess and the King got to Glossaryck… We-… I wasn't able to save him… And under the guise of the bonfire, they… They had him" he choked; a lump stopped any proceeding words from emitting. He could feel an anvil crushing his chest. Star wasn't an idiot, she feared she knew what Marco was trying to tell her and began to tear up.

"No… No Marco, there's no way they'd actually… Do it. Right? You're joking, you can't be serious" her breathing began to hasten.

"Star… They killed Glossaryck." He managed, seeing her face contort into a nightmare of pain, guilt, sadness and disbelief. He wanted to avoid telling her exactly how he died, fearing it was simply too brutal for her to know. Maybe some other time.

"no." She pleaded, tears rolling swiftly down her cheeks "they didn't… No."

"I'm sorry." It was then when Marco took her into an embrace. Upon feeling her limp body shudder in his arms, he also started to tear, he brought his hand to the girl's head and began to stroke her hair softly, "he loved you Star." More wheezing came from the little Butterfly. This continued for some time, Marco occasionally caressed her head. "Why don't you get some sleep?"

"yeah… okay…" she cooed and began to fall sideways onto her bed. Marco tucked her in and left a kiss on her forehead before checking once more she was okay and began to leave. He needed to get back at them for what they did.

* * *

Nothing happened for a while. 4 days were left now, Star remained cooped up in her room, Marco had tried to interact with her but she seemed: Weak. Queen Moon had also tried to talk to her but got cut off before any real development happened by River who demanded the Queen remain by his side for the time being; it seems a certain assassin had tipped him off that the Queen had been talking to Star.

Matthew talked to Ophelia about the plot but she pleaded innocent, arguing that she had no knowledge of the murder and that she wants to see proof of her involvement. Marco was out of moves, he lost contact with Star, Ophelia, Matthew – who has now been commanded to stay away from Marco. Thankfully, he still had Alfonzo and Emilia, both of which were hungry to get revenge for Glossaryck, Alfonzo wanted to avenge the unjust murder of him, while Emilia wanted to bring down the monarchy because Glossaryck was always kind to the servants and even bailed them out of trouble sometimes if they had messed up. His death meant more than it appeared.

 **Day 10 – Breakfast**

Marco & Al were keeping a low profile, spooning the remainder of cereal into their mouths. A faint smell of ash could still be made out around the castle, it dug itself into every crevice; a constant reminder of the failure Marco had to endure. Al wore a simple green shirt with black suit pants and a belt, Marco wore a simple white buttoned-shirt and black suit pants. _If only I figured it out earlier, I could've stopped River. Pulled Glossaryck out, done something._

"Marco, what's the plan now? Are we still doing this? Can we still do this?" Marco looked up and thought for a minute.

"I-I don't know. What can we do Al? We played our hand and lost. There's only a few days left, Ophelia and River have complete domination right now."

"Do you still have the recording of the confession?" A few candidates began to leave, a few had formed friendship groups during the tournament or at least it seemed they had, most were in the illusion that they were cunning and pretending to be friends in order to find out weaknesses and destroy others. Of course, that kind of strategy doesn't work if everyone is attempting the same thing.

"Yes, but it's no good if we don't have the support of the town, one recording isn't enough to overthrow the king – we need force. People who are willing, right now there's now way for us to even sneak out-… Wait." A plan hatched in Marco's head, he knew how he'd be able to get the support of the town, but it'd require a sacrificial lamb. "Hey Al."

"Hm?" The two leaned in.

"I don't need to sneak out… I can just be thrown out." It took a moment but Al finally realised what Marco sought.

"No, that's potentially suicide – you'd be taking a massive gamble if you decided to go through with something like that. What if they don't listen to you? Then what?" Diaz knew the consequences of what he was about to do, if it went wrong, he could be sentenced to death, but at this point – he had to try.

"Alfonzo, listen to me. You have to get Star ready for the night of the Choosing; there's a possibility I won't make it with the town so don't arouse too much suspicion, but I'll aim to be ready for the ball, when security is at its lightest. They'll be so many guests they won't be able to do anything bold like have massive squads on each entrance, for a kingdom as ' _great'_ as Mewni they can't afford to look weak and be scared of a boy." The main door creaked and Emilia slipped in, _Perfect timing_ Marco thought. "Hey Em!" He whisper-shouted at her, she casually strolled over.

"What's going on boss?" To which he just gazed at her annoyed, "Right… Captain!"

*Sigh* "Forget it. Anyway, I need to ask you for a favour."

"What is it?" The servant asked, rolling up her sleeves, "Need me to beat someone up for ya?" The boy ignored her jokes and rolled along.

"I need you to get the gates open for me on the night of the ball."

"It'll be difficult, may I ask why?"

"Glossaryck will have a sleeping potion in one of his books, just slip it into the guard's drinks or something, and, for the 'why'… Well, you'll find out real soon." He stated as the boy rose and began to walk over to one of the more pompous boys who was surrounded in a couple of his gang. "Hey fuckface!" Marco shouted; the kid's head reared around.

"You talking to me plebeian?" The noble said as he rose, a panic-struck Emilia started to move to grab Marco and make him apologise but Al stopped her, whispering that it was fine… Or… Should be.

"Oh what? You're deaf as well as a dick?!" The boy responded.

"You really gonna start this common-boy?" The noble rose and stomped over to Marco, he was slightly taller, a cm or two. He had curly blonde hair and wore a red leather jacket – they weren't always in formal attire for the duration of the trip. Marco didn't wait to respond he began to throw punches, all of them connected and sent the noble crumbling down with a bloody nose. "You'll pay for that you barbarian!" He screeched as he jumped up and returned a few blows, most of which missed but a few hits got in on the Diaz's body.

"Emilia," Al whispered, "shout for the guards."

She was still a little taken aback by what began to happen but played along "GUARDS! GUARDS!" She screamed, a bolt of troops made their way in through the gigantic doors, clanking metal armour as they approached the teen in full-force.

"OI YOU! STOP!" They cried, and began to pry young Marco off of the other noble.

"He just started attacking me!" The noble pleaded, slightly hard to understand due to his inflamed lips.

"Let go of me!" Marco cried and begin to throw himself around, making as much of a scene as possible. That was when Matthew and Ophelia jumped in who were in the gardens but heard screaming from the dining room.

"Marco what'd you do?!" Matthew screamed. The howl of King River was next to approach, this was good for the bastard-king, he had been waiting for a chance to get rid of Marco. With the Chosen being seen as practically nobles during the Choosing it had been difficult to remove Marco without arousing any suspicion but if he used this then he could throw Marco out and free himself of that little prick.

"BOY! CEASE!" He commanded. At this, everything fell quiet – the only remaining noises came from a whimpering noble who was clutching his nose, it seemed slightly bent out of shape. This is where the real trouble began for Marco, he had to be careful with how he handled the King. One wrong word and his life would be over.

"Yes, your majesty?" He answered calmly.

"What is going on here?!" The King interrogated Emilia and the guards.

"Sir!" The guards were first to answer, "From what we've seen it seems that Diaz had began to attack Sir Porfey."

"Is this true, boys?" He addressed Marco and Desmon (the noble). Both nodded in agreement. The king was a little stunned at how Marco had easily given himself up, something about it didn't sit right with him but right now he could only see the finish goal in sight; he was so close to getting rid of Marco that it blinded him. "Diaz you agree you attacked Porfey unfairly, unjustly and in bad taste?"

"I do, your majesty." The King thought for a minute before stating his result.

"Marco Diaz, henceforth you are excluded from the Choosing and banished from the Castle, never to return here or next time I will have you executed." The boy tried his best to look in pain, as if leaving this hellhole was ever going to actually make him upset, he was a little sad that he didn't get to say goodbye to Star. However, he hoped that he could return in a short while, with an army at his side. Marco had the recording always on him, refusing to leave it unguarded while Kelly, 'phelia and everyone else untrustworthy was lurking about the castle.

 **Castle Entrance**

Marco had been picked up by the guards and thrown out, they pointed spears at him and insisted that he leave the premise immediately. He obliged and began to make his way toward town, in pursuit of the villagers.

 **Library**

Emilia made her way into the library; she took a minute as the woman passed Glossaryck's old desk. She slid her hands down the wood and said a prayer for the old man, he was quite the metaphorical father-figure to a lot of servants, it was sad that she'd never hear his stupid dry-humour again. After the pause she began to rummage through shelves in attempts to find the right botanical book for her potion. At last she had stumbled across it, flipping through the pages she found a sweet little concoction. A few leaves that were easily procured, some old bread, a few sprinkles of sugar and other spices. All things considered, a very easily made drink.

 **Star's Room**

A knock at the door signalled her wake. Her hair was a mess, it was frazzled and, in her eyes, she had dark bags underneath them too. Her lips were chapped and the food Marco had been leaving her was barely touched, thankfully the water had been though – so at the very least she was surviving. After a short cough, the Butterfly greeted the intruder, "Hello?"

"Star, it's me." Al whisper-shouted.

"Al?" She asked, looking up, finding it a little hard to focus on his image.

"Listen, Marco wanted me to tell you something, it's very important." She blinked a few times to try and wrap her head around what she'd just been told.

"Yeah sure what is it?" She croaked.

"He's been banished from the cast—"  
"WHAT?!" She shouted back instantly.

"No, wait! It's part of his plan. He's trying to raise an army to come and invade the castle, take down the princess and king."

"That's reckless, that's on the verge on insanity! How does he plan to do it?"

"I don't know. But, he said that you need to be ready for the night of the Choosing ball. Listen, I've got other stuff to prepare for, but I'm just informing you that you need to be ready on that night or all of this will go to waste!" Al begged, afterwards, he left, leaving Star alone on her bed to fall back into her thoughts.

 _Marco is gone… He's… Gone to get an army? That makes no sense, it's dangerous, I don't want him to go…_ She teared up a bit _what if he dies… What if… I don't want him to go too…_ It was an emotional time for her, she couldn't stop the tears from falling and anything would set them off. Part of her knew she had to be strong, had to stand up because it's what Glossaryck would've wanted. _It's just… So hard…_

 **Town**

 _Huh. I made it, now where do I start?_ Marco thought as he proceeded down the cobbled streets, a slightly voice behind him triggered alertness. "Hey, how are ya?" The stranger greeted, Marco whipped around "Name's Tom, nice to meet ya!"

* * *

 ** _Notes:_**

So that's 19. Little shorter, I'm still getting into the swing of things, is there somethings that make no sense? Probably, I didn't proof read it because I'm lazy xD Hope it was still understood though, I think I usually try to dictate too much what is going on in world, as if I'm directing the story rather than just telling you it. Which is somewhat different because it takes your imagination from the equation, should I start to leave it more up to you? Let me know.

 **THE BIG NEWS:** If anyone wants to take this story and add to it in their own way, let me know. I'll elaborate, I'm **not** leaving the story! I'm not leaving it for adoption or whatever, I'm not discontinuing it - **I love this story** and I really want to see it through, but I know that it's difficult to have to wait for new chapters to a story you adore. Therefore, if anyone is interested in continuing their **own version of the story, on their own channel** where they control it; just let me know. I doubt anyone will, but the offer from me is there, I'm opening this up to you guys too, just let me know first in a PM and I'll give the blessing on this story :)

So with the big stuff out the way, how's your lives going? Mine's decent, I've gone into full revision mode now, my final exams for College are in late May-Mid June. So it's gonna be rough for me, I've got 2 weeks off now, with 1 week left, I go back 22nd April.

Did you enjoy? Do you got any constructive criticism? Let me know all in the reviews, it cheers me up when I know people are reading!

See ya around~  
 _vK_


	20. The Fire Which Burns Down The Monarchy

**Notes:** It's me, next day post from previous chapter! I felt really good about continuing the story and the reviews I received were so lovely. Thank you all. I really hope you enjoy this chapter, it was a pleasure for me to write. Again, there might be occasional errors in grammar and probably a few typos. But I'm lazy :P

 **Reviews:**

 **noobl2 -** Yeah I used the line of "Raising an army" but I doubt it'll be along the size of that, maybe 30-100 people depending on how things go for the little pipsqueak. Thanks for understanding, and I have something much bigger planned so I really hope you stick with me through this train :)

 **Slimster22 -** I am very much alive, I have had multiple cans of coke and am on fire, I wrote like 700 words of this in about 10 minutes it felt good to just let everything flow into a word document xD Tom is indeed here now! Wooohooo, or Nayyhayy depending on how you feel :P

 **brody Putnum -** Thanks for the compliment my dude, I'm glad that I'm not discontinuing it either

Enjoy~

* * *

Marco wasn't sure if what he did was the right choice, after all, it meant that he had to leave Star behind in order to get a group together strong enough to pressure the crown into conceding their throne. He needed to get some influence over Hamschmert. _Great, I made it. Now where do I go?_ That was when a friendly voice intruded his thoughts, "Hey, how are ya? Name's Tom, nice to meetcha." Marco whipped around to get a good look of the approaching teenager. "Say, aren't you that kid that was with Markus a little while ago?" He wore a grey shirt and a dark blazer, in similarly coloured jeans. Surprisingly, he had pinkish hair which had Marco puzzled.

"Uh, yeah, I came here about a week ago. How do you know Markus?"

"He's my lil bro." _Oh. Well that's helpful._ "Aren't you supposed to be in the Choosing right now?"

"Abouuuuttt that…" His eyes rolled, "What do you think of the current King?"

"Say no more." The Lucitor replied as he dragged Marco along toward the Old Crumbs tavern. _What…_ Marco was a little confused as to how this had played out so far, in his slight panic by not having a very good excuse for why he was out of the Choosing he thought he should lead with what he was originally here to do. It seemed like Tom knew what he was getting at.

When the entered the bar, the atmosphere was identical to the last time, the smell of sweet alcohol roamed the air, Marco's feet stuck slightly to the wooden floor from all the beer that had been spilt on it. Old men were cheering at some sort of gambling thing, Marco wasn't sure exactly what it was but it seemed to keep them entertained. Tom dragged the teen to the back room where a large buff man was waiting at the opposing side of the door, "Password." He stated gruffly.

"अंधेरे के स्वामी से नमस्ते" _What?_ A few noises were heard from behind the door before it opened with a clank, revealing a total of about 13 people sat around a desk with papers and figures.

"What's this?"

Tom whirled around and spread his arms, "This, Castle-Kid, is the rebellion!" Marco scanned the room; Markus wasn't anywhere to be found – did he know about this? Is this the reason why he got cosy with Ophelia? "When you said to me on the street about what I thought, well I knew you'd probably be thinking something along the lines of 'I want to get revenge' am I right? Or am I right?" His deductive skills took quite the leap of faith in assuming Marco was out for revenge, perhaps he isn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he seems reliable enough.

"Yeah, something like that… See I've got a plan—"

"What a coincidence we've got a plan too!" Tom cut Marco off and proceeded to intrude with their plan, one of the background shapes came to life.

"T, it's not polite to cut people off." A blonde-haired woman, who appeared to be in mid thirties called out, she had bright-blue eyes and wore a white vest and a light-green dress that went down past her knees.

"T?" Marco blurted out without thinking.

"We refer to each other by initials here, it helps keep secrecy among ranks in the case of anyone overhearing." Tom replied. _Well at least that gives me a bit of hope. But there is still only 15 people here right now, we can't take a castle with that little._

The blonde woman began to speak again, "He says we have a plan, it's a bunch of a crap thrown together because _**none of us**_ " She spoke those 3 words while turning around to gaze across the assortment of people "can come to an agreement on the best plan."

That was when a ginger man chimed in, his voice was hoarse, "We only can't come to an agreement love, because some of yous can't understand the brilliance which is my plan."

"Brilliance?!" Another ginger cooed, "Brother you wouldn't know brilliance if it slapped you in the face. You're _plan_ consists of blowing up half the castle!"

"Well I don't see yo—"

"ENOUGH!" The blonde-haired woman silenced, to which the ginger siblings just stared at the floor. Marco was left dumbfounded, not quite sure how he should enter the conversation anymore, _These people are insane._ "Sorry dear, as you can see, we're not exactly organised right now. We lost our leader a few months ago-"

Tom chuckled, "Lost? Is that what you call murdered?" This seemed to bring a bleak atmosphere around the room, everything fell still.

"…" The replied paused, "You see, an assassin worked their way into his home a while ago and… Poisoned him." _An assassin? She couldn't mean…_ "Anyway, that's all done now. We're happy to have you if you want to help us on our conquest to take down the monarchy." She smiled sweetly, it reminded him faintly of how his mother would smile.

The boy took a moment to think things over, this was a lucky break for him. He'd already found a rebellion group willing to attack, however, they weren't prepared, trained or even united. There was only 4 days until the ball. "I have a way into the castle…" At this news, everyone in the room perked up, interested at what the Diaz was mentioning "Listen, I've got a plan. It has a really good chance to succeed, we only need to take out the King and the crown princess – everything else falls into place."

"Easier said than done kid." The ginger man retorted.

"No, it really is that easy. We'll need more people but in 4 days' time they'll be a massive ball, the security will be light and they'll be plenty of nobles from across the country attending. We could slip in the back and storm the castle before they even know what was going to hit them."

"You got some pretty big stones to waltz in here and give us this kind of information. How can we trust you? What if this is a trap to weed us out?" The other sibling responded.

"You're right. The only proof I have that I'm working against the crown princess is with this tape. Which holds a confession from Markus Lucitor about his relationship to Princess Ophelia." Marco announced as he held up the recording, Tom seemed a little intrigued by it.

"My brother was with Ophelia?" Tom asked.

"Yes, I thought you knew… Wasn't he getting close to provide you all with info?" The room exchanged glances before returning to Tom.

"No… He isn't even aware that we exist…"

"Okay kid, we'll give that recording a lesson and get back to you when we've decided on an outcome."

 **Castle – Star's Room**

The butterfly arose from her cocoon finally. She stood up, a little wobbly at first due to her lack of use of her legs for the last few days. _Come on Star… Come on!_ She cheered herself on and made a path for the window, with a significant pull she stretched out the curtains and allowed sun rays to beam their way back into her room – filling up every crevice with warmth. It felt surprisingly good. Although, she did have to go through an adjustment period as her eyes had become used to the dark. Her frazzled hair was stretching every which-way, her pyjamas were bunched up near the foot and her top was tucked half-way into her pants. It took a few more minutes but she reminded herself that Marco was coming, he wasn't going to leave her, and that she needed to be ready for when he came. Thus, she dragged herself to the washroom and began to get scrubbed.

The bath water felt amazing, as if it were lifting her spirits and taking all of the burdens from the past away. She sunk deeper, this time making sure to lock the door to stop any unwanted intrusions from the bitch of a princess. It wasn't much use though, after a few minutes of sitting there, she found her mind wandering back to Glossaryck: His words. _Am I in love with Marco? Or am I scared? He was there for me when no one else was, out of everyone in this castle he's the second person to truly see me… But… he hasn't ever said "I love you." Has he? Does that mean he doesn't? No. I'm just doubting myself, of course he loves me. We spent the night together at the bar, then in the bed, we even slept next to each other – he's caring, yeah, he loves me. I love him… I…_ *sigh* _I love him._

 **Ophelia's Room**

Matthew burst through the door, gazing accusatively toward the princess, who was currently in the middle of changing.

"Oh my… What am I going to do with—"

"Cut the crap 'Phe, why'd you kill Glossaryck?" Matt's eyes had a certain fire to them, one that only made 'Phelia more pleased with her work. She finished putting on her dress and looked back to the boy.

"I didn't _kill-"_

"You had him killed, same difference." Matt responded coldly.

"He was in the way; he was just too strong of an opposition for me. He was a massive dick but he was knowledgeable, and that kind of knowledge _cannot_ find its way into Marco's hands." She began to stroll over to the boy now, only a meter away.

"We could've talked it out, made peace! It doesn't have to end in a bloodbath! Listen, I feel something between us, a special connection. But I cannot keep doing this if you won't listen to me or let me in on anything." Matt held his hand out for Ophelia to grab, a short pause occurred before she accepted his offer.

"Fine. I'll try to make it more civilised." He brought her into a hug before thanking her, that was when the door bust open to reveal a short greenette stood on the opposite side. "Kelly?" 'phe questioned "why are you here? You're supposed to be following Marco!" Matthew grew annoyed at this, here she was annotating she had undergone a slight change but she's immediately back to hunting Marco down.

"Yes your majesty, but there was a slight complication with the _thing._ I've been told that my sentence has been extended?"

"What of it? I need you here, so if I want to extend your sentence I will."

"That's not fair mi'la—"

"Don't tell me what's fair Kelly! If you don't leave right now, I will have your entire family executed do you understand?" A sharp pained look crossed Kelly's face and then an angry one, she gritted her teeth and bit her tongue before venomously replying, "Yes your majesty." The door closed and then the two nobles were left along once more. "What?" Ophelia asked.

"You said you were going to try being more civilised."

"Sometimes my darling, you've got to be hard with the commoners, otherwise they'll turn out soft. Now, before I go downstairs and have to address the inferior subjects, why don't we have a little _us time?_ " She seductively asked as she motioned to the bed and started to drag Matt.

"You can't keep doing this 'phe." He groaned.

"You say you don't want to but I know your body too well, come on then, ravage me a little more. I know I just put this dress on but I want you to rip it off." Her words felt as if they attacked every nerve in his body, forcing him into a state of incoherent thought. He tried to resist a little more, but found himself eventually giving in and following her to the bed as the two entered the covers.

 **Servant Quarters**

"Emi! Long time no see!" Phil cried as he dove toward the young maid. She simply dodged out the way, leaving him to go flying past her and into the wall, it was only a soft thud, he stopped himself before completely hitting it. "Harsh!"

"Zip it, shrimp." She replied humorously.

"Harsh!" The man repeated. This left Richard and a few others to chuckle at the two's antics.

"What brings you here today Em?" Dick asked as he bit into his cheese sandwich.

She sat there for a moment before casually replying "Nothing. I just wanted to come here, do I always need a reason to show up?" The old man's stare protruded through her act, "Okay fine. Listen, I like all of you—"

"Even me?" Phil asked with a sparkle to his eyes.

"Except you." She added on the end, to which a further laugh ensued. "Anyway, on the night of the ball. I need all of you to leave, go to town, just get out of the castle – don't ask why, just please, do me this favour."

"And why can't we ask the reason miss?" The old man interrogated.

"Trust me, it's a lot better if you don't. Please promise me that." For the first time, in perhaps ever, Phil got a serious.

"Okay. If it's that important to you Emilia, we'll do it. Won't we guys?" To which the rest of the servants held a cup up to.

 **Old Crumbs Tavern**

The ginger man was the one to come and break the news to Marco, "A'ight kid. We reviewed it. You're in, what's this great plan of yours?" Marco stepped up and introduced himself to the council (if you could call it that).

"Hi. My name is Marco Diaz, I was born in East Klingon to Angie and Rafael Diaz, I was chosen this year to take part in the Choosing – and I want to tear down the monarchy and reform the nation. For my plan to work, I'll need more people—"

"Not a problem," Tom added, "there isn't a soul in this village who wouldn't want to help with that, given the plan is good enough – the might not come out and say it immediately but no one would, the king's soldiers parade around here all the time."

"Excellent, after that – I've got an inside person that will open the back entrance on the night of the ball. We'll be able to storm in there and kill _or_ take prisoner the king and princess. However, I would much rather the king be killed… Any objections to that?" Nobody raised their hand, "Good. Afterward it'll be a simple matter of taking over the throne."

"Who'll that be castle-kid?" Another member asked from the back. "You? Getting us to do all the dirty work so you can take the throne?"

"No. The throne doesn't belong to Ophelia, the real heir is inside the castle but she's been locked away her entire life, she's been beaten by that asshole of a King. She's kind-hearted, caring, thoughtful, compassionate, beautiful and with guidance I know she'll be a fantastic leader, one that will abolish the difference in society, make unfathomable changes that we can't even see on the horizon right now. The future is bright with her at the head of it, and I believe strongly that we need to fight hard to get her there."

It seemed like an eternal silence, but in the deadness of the room, a single clap could be heard – followed by another, then another, until eventually everyone was clapping to Marco's speech. The speech that would ignite the fire which burns the monarchy to the ground. _Wow it worked._ Marco took a large breath.

 **20 Minutes Later**

Marco left the tavern to get some fresh air, in his doing so a small figure bumped into his side. He looked down slightly to inspect the body – realising that it was in fact Kelly. "K-Kelly?" He asked.

"Shh!" She said aggressively as the girl pushed him back into an alley with a finger on his lips.

"What's wrong?"

"Listen, Marco… I know you're up to something, and I don't expect you to trust after what I did to Star and… The librarian." A small flame of anger heated Marco's face when he heard that Kelly was the one to put Glossaryck under the bonfire.

"I need your help to kill Ophelia."

* * *

 **End Notes:** When I said it was a "joy to write this chapter" I really meant it. I love doing interactions between Em and Phillip, it's always great chemistry. Doing the stuff between Matthew and 'phe is always lovely too because it allows me to kind of bring a kinky side to this story so it doesn't get too boring romantically. Writing up foreshadows is always fun too, I can't remember if I did any here in this chapter even though I finished it like 9 minutes ago lol

What'd you think? Got any constructive criticism or compliments? Leave 'em all in the reviews, it cheers me up to know people are reading this, otherwise all my readers are just numbers on a spreadsheet that tells me how many people have visited my chapters but not necessarily if they've finished reading them :D


	21. The Blood Painted Sky

**Notes:** Hey, I'm back! Next day delivery, woohooo! It feels good to be writing again, makes me happy when I finish a chapter.

 **Reviews:**

 **Bedrock Armor -** Thanks, I did deal with a lot of writer's block. But, I know where I want the story to end, it's about getting there that is the problem for me, and making enough events per chapter as to not get boring. I also appreciate the offer a lot, I'll definitely ask if I need some help with ideas! :D To be honest for me, I'm making most of this up as I got along XD I know it sounds terrible, as I said, first real story, I'm a terrible writer and I do have ideas for twists, turns, who characters are, the way they speak, how they act to each other, if their traitorous or not, but I don't ever write them down. Because, I think this is a really simple story, there's not a lot I need to keep track of, but yeah, I do sometimes lose track of what I've actually said already. Funny story, I was writing this and thought "WAIT, Did I already say Kelly was an assassin? OH shit..." So I had to look up the previous chapter and Ctrl+F 'Assassin' through chapters xD

 **SugarQueen97 -** I agree, it would be certainly tragic if Marco didn't return to Star. I'm afraid it would tear the little Butterfly in two ;-;

 **Slimster22 -** I understand the concern, and thanks for also understanding that I only had 4 days to play with, not a whole lot for making an 'army' of sorts, but I think I've done a decent job and subverting the expectation of an 'army'. I'd like to also think it's not much of a stretch to assume there'd be a rebellion of sorts against a tyrannical ruler such as King River. People hate the guy xD ... To do with 'phe, I'm not going to say I won't give her a redemption arc, because I could go either way - but I like to think that Matthew strongly believes he can save her, whether she's manipulating him or he's just idealistic is a grey zone even for me. I'm pretty sure I said it before but, I'm experiencing this story with you all! I don't know fully what's going to happen between points A & B :)

Without further adieu, Enjoy~

* * *

"You what?" Marco exclaimed, stunned at Kelly's request.

"Like I said, I'm going to need your help to off 'phe."

"Aren't you two friends?"

"Friends?!" Kelly exclaimed with wide eyes. "That bitch has my family captive."

 _Hm. Well, a surprise to be sure._

"Okay," she continued, "you don't have any reason to trust me, I get it – I wouldn't trust me either," A deadpanned Marco stared at her, "yes that isn't helping my case but the point is, she's kind of screwed me: Royally. Now I want to get back at her."

Marco rubbed his chin, "And how exactly has she screwed you over?"

"She was supposed to release my family and release me of my duties after Glossaryck, but she's held them against me to continue work for her. I've had enough of listening to her." The girl clearly seemed upset by the Princess' actions.

Marco paused to think of his options, "You're right Kelly. I can't trust you, you killed the only father Star ever had – that's not something that can be whisked away by an apology; speaking of which you haven't said sorry to her yet, right?—"

"You really think an apology will wipe over what I've done?" She cut in.

"God no! But it's a start." The two were heaving quite heavily, to people passing by it seemed like an argument between two lovers, that was until you picked up the words in the conversation. Funnily enough 'murder' isn't exactly a lover's quarrel topic. "I'm sorry Kelly, but I cannot trust you." Her face sunk deeply at this: Deflated. "Don't worry about Ophelia for much longer, I'm sure someone as much of an opportunist as you are will figure out when to escape."

That was when the blonde-haired woman came out, after looking around she finally spotted Marco in the alley, "M, we need you in here!"

"I'm sorry," he repeated one final time before shouting back "Yea okay I'm coming!"

' _Fine, if he won't help me, I'll do it myself._ '

 **Old Crumbs Tavern – Backroom**

"We've hit a snag M." Susan, the blond-haired woman, said as Marco entered the room. The majority of the council had their hands sprawled across papers, researching into entry-points and designs for the castle.

"Why what's wrong?" The aforementioned boy asked while making his way to the counter.

"See kid," the ginger man – Dashon – spoke, "our hopes to get more people on-board haven't worked out as smoothly as we thought." Visibly confusion could be seen on the boy's face.

"I thought you said people were willing to help?"

"They were, until our previous leader died for what the town assumes is defying the King…"

"H-how many people do we have now?" He dared ask, hoping for at least 40.

"4." Tom responded.

"f-fo-four?!" Marco repeated, choking on his words.

"Mhm."

"F-O-U-R?" He spelt it out.

"Yup." The teen did feel a little faint in hearing the news, how could they possibly raid a castle, with 19 people? It's beyond insanity, even if security is light, they'll still be around 30 guards across the whole castle.

"We might have to give it up guys." Tom observed; he was currently sitting against the wall with his arms crossed.

"We can't." Marco stated, still a little wobbly in his knees, "This will be the only time that we can attack, after that day, the security will be back to maximum for a long, long time…" _Star too… I can't leave her there alone. How? How can I fix this, come on come on think think!_

"Everyone here is willing to give up their lives for the cause, but we want to be sure, is this Princess worth it?" The other ginger sibling, Tess said.

The sudden question disrupted Marco's thoughts, "Yeah. Yes, she is: I can promise you she'd be fair, just and kind to her people. She's nothing like her father."

… "okay." Tess added, "I'm in. Suicidal? Probably. Insane? Absolutely, but I suppose in the end, all the best people are a lil bit insane ay?"

"To hell with it." Tom chimed in, "I'm in." This snowball of agreement rolled into a gigantic flurry of agreements between members, it made Marco's heart feel a little warm to know this many people believed in Star. Even if it's purely out of hatred for the current King.

"You might die." Marco affirmed with them, "this will cost dearly…" His voice fell a little faint knowing that he could've just been the key which opens their coffins. However, they all just kept smiling at him, ready to give it their all. _19 people…_

 **The Next Day – Angie Diaz**

A sudden knock on her room door alerted the mother to a guest. "Just one moment please." Her nasally voice cried out as she rushed for the door and opened it to greet a couple of soldiers, they both wore silver armour with gold laced pieces working their way up their arms and across their helmets. One of the men had scruffy black hair underneath his helmet, around 6 foot 2. While the other was about 6 foot and had what looked like no hair but it could've just been too short to see while he wore his helmet. "What's up?" Her bubbly personality evident in her words.

"Miss, I'm sorry but your son," a look of dread lashed across Angie's face, she immediately began to fear the worse of what could've happened to her baby boy "has left the Choosing." The soldier finished, the million mile per hour thoughts cease to leave her much less concerned.

"Oh? Is that it… Well that's too bad, when can I expect him home by?"

The two soldiers looked at each other before responding, "Well miss… He wasn't taken out of the Choosing for the usual reason; he attacked a fellow candidate and was thrown out of the castle; he should still be in the capital. But, it's really anyone's guess as to when he'll be back…" The soldier's voice dropped off toward the end, noticing that Angie's face had become quite livid at the crown for just tossing her boy out without means to return, and also a hint of curiosity pecked her mind for why her son would do something as terrible as attacking another candidate. He must've deserved it? Right?

Next, it was the black-haired soldier's turn to speak, "Furthermore, we're here to escort you back to your home, your son isn't in the choosing anymore so we're afraid we'll have to remove you from these lodgings."

"Well that's too bad." She added, "Allow me to grab my things then we can go." _Oh Marco my boy, what have you done?_

 **Star's Room – Midday**

The trademark knock at the door had Star perked up, she was currently sitting at her desk reading a new book she found _'The Blood Painted Sky'_ It was about a guy who tried to save a girl that he used to know after she was abducted from her home, after a long painful search which lasted multiple years he finally found her at this demon Lord's ball and they ended up dancing together under a wonder-of-the-world known as the 'Blood Moon' and they were bound together afterward. That was as far as she got in the book before being disturbed.

Star opened the door, only to reveal a chestnut coloured attendant on the other side. "Oh Emilia?" Star asked as she opened the door more fully to see that she came with food on a tray.

"Hey Star, wanna grab a bite to eat?" She asked, raising the tray which held pudding… And it was a lot of pudding, enough for maybe 6 people. The Butterfly began to drool just seeing the copious amount of sugar.

"Where'd you find all that pudding?" She gulped.

"A magician never reveals her secrets," Emilia responded as she laid the tray on a bed-side table, "but, it had something to do with a key I _found_ in the Chef's pockets." Emilia winked, this caused Star to let out an adorable giggle. "Shall we dig in?" Em asked as she plopped herself down on Star's bed, to which Star happily dove next to her, "WE SHALL!" She claimed as the two began their feast.

A few minutes passed by, Emilia had eaten about half of her cup while Star was already on her second, "Say, Star – I've been wondering something" Emilia began,

Star – who was currently half a spoon of pudding in her mouth replied "Ahuh?"

"Are you not scared of this… Of dying?"

"Well… Duh, of course I am."

"How can you charge ahead then? I've been scared since Glossaryck's passing, he was important and a key figure but they… They got rid of him so easily…" Emilia's usually cheery attitude had been replaced by something much darker, her smile had inverted.

"My whole life I've been bullied, told I wasn't good enough, but here I am – on the verge of change, Glossaryck believed in me, so much so he gave his life for me. I can't let it go to waste, yeah sure I'm sad. I'll be doing something completely boring and he'll just pop into my head, and BAM I'm sad. Unfortunately, he raised me to be better than that, to be strong. When this is all over Emilia, let's get some ice cream! Soooo much ice cream that we explode!" This brought a small smile to Emilia's face.

"Yeah… I think I'd love that." Em smiled sincerely at the young Princess' offer.

The two spent the next ten minutes gossiping about random things before they finished their dessert and Emilia decided it to be best if she gets back to work. "Well, I'll get going then Boss! Thanks for the talk."

"Roger that." Star replied as she saluted. "One final thing. Do you think Marco likes me?" It took Emilia a little by surprise.

"You haven't heard him talk about you the way he does when you're not around, he doesn't like you Star: He loves you, heck he's fighting a country for you right now." With those final words, Emilia slipped out the room – leaving Star to sit on her back and smile to herself _'Yeah… He is_ …' After a small pause she returned to her book, _"The two lost themselves, intertwining with incredible beauty among the crimson that covers them…"_

 **Recreational Room**

Alfonzo entered the room silently, he spotted Matthew sitting by the window talking to another Chosen group about random crap. Al needed to inform Matt of the plan Marco had, he currently wasn't informed about what is going on. "Psst!" He not-very-subtly shouted for Matthew who looked up a little blank at the ridiculous effort Al put into that. "Matthew can we talk?" Matt excused himself from the group to speak.

"Hey Alfonzo, do you have any idea what Marco planned? I mean the guy just starting pounding into Desmon."

"Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it? He just got fucking kicked out of the competition, what's not to worry about Al?!" He whispered back, a little sarcastically might I add.

"It's fine, on the night of the ball, Marco plans to siege the castle and overthrow the king."

"And… the only way he could do it is if he got kicked out…" Matt pieced the puzzle together himself, realising that Marco wasn't intending to stay out of the competition. "Can I ask, what's the plan for 'Phe?"

Al was a little stunned by Matt's apparent care for Ophelia but responded, not really taking much care into it, "I imagine we'll try to throw her into the dungeon, arrest her. If it comes down to it though, I suppose nobody would be opposed to killing—"

"No." Matt stated firmly, "Ophelia is just a damaged young girl, she's no threat really. I know I can help her if I just have more time, she can be helped."

"Matt, she has killed multiple people, threatened many more – what part of that isn't a threat?" Al pleaded for sense.

"Fair point, but I will not let you harm her. I can talk to her; we can talk this out diplomatically it doesn't have to end—"

"Matthew! Wake up and smell the air, it's too late for that now! You will not talk to her about this plan, if she gets wind of what Marco's up too it's all for nothing, Glossaryck's sacrifice is for nothing if you let her win." Matthew couldn't really think of a comeback, what Al was saying is correct.

"I need to speak with her." Matthew began to leave for where he could find Ophelia at this time.

"No Matt! You can't." Al said as he grabbed a hold of Matt's arm and attempted to stop him, emphasise on attempted.

"Let me go Dolittle." Matthew commanded as he pushed Al away and broke out to into a jog for 'phelia. _'Shit'_ Thought Al.

 **Gardens**

'phe was currently sitting near the pond where her and Matt spent their first kiss together – in the bushes… It still made her feel something deep in her core whenever she thought about it, it was like nothing she felt before when making out with a man. _Think of the devil_ , Matthew was walking over to her, it was evident enough that he had intended to speak about something privately so she stood up to greet him a little further away from the pond. "Hello handsome."

"Phelia. Please make up with Star and Marco… I would feel a lot better if you did that." A perplexed look plagued the Princess' face.

"Apologise?" She laughed, "Why on Mewni would I do that?"

"You've won, okay… Marco's gone, Star's left alone, Glossaryck's dead – there's nothing left for you to do."

"My dear, that's where your wrong. I'm only getting started with my… Conquest." A freakish smile struck her face, putting her into a borderline insanity level of crazy.

Matt was about to debate with her on the subject, but he noticed a little rustle behind her before a figure darted out and sprinted at her holding something which looked like a shiny dagger… DAGGER?! " 'PHE!" He shouted as the man pushed her out of the way, her eyes rolled to see what he was talking about and noticed the assailant too. Matt managed to stop the dagger before it reached Ophelia but it took the cost of his hand, "ARGHH!" He screamed, but was strong enough to grab a hold of the assassin with his spare hand, that was when the guards eventually made their way over. "GET DOWN!" They shouted as the lances aimed toward the intruder. Said intruder looked like they were preparing for a fight but in a sudden action, Matthew dived on them and dragged them to the ground so that Ophelia could get back up and take a look at who the perpetrator was… Surprise surprise: Kelly. The little vixen herself.

"You." The Princess spat. Kelly knew what this meant, she had failed in her mission and so her family was most likely going to be executed… A wave of despair flooded over her.

"What are you gonna do now, _Princess_? Kill my family?"

"You stupid whore, I never had your family – you're just too much of an idiot to recognise that incy wincy little bitsy of a fact! You're as much of an idiot as you appear to be… But regardless, even though you did just try an attack on my life I respect the hell out of your balls for that shit. Guards," Ophelia quipped, "Drag her to the dungeons. And also, get this man to the infirmary." She added, leading her hand to Matt's shaking hand, blood pooled its way out of the wound, leaving a small puddle on the floor.

The remainder of the day completed uneventfully.

Marco and co spent the next day preparing, grabbing any weapons they'd need. Most were rusted but they were better than nothing, armour wasn't really going to work for a part-stealth mission. They left most of the heavy armour out, only buying some gambison and light leather armour.

Star spent the same day finishing her book.

Angie spent the day returning to her old, broken home, still very much concerned for Marco. But he was a big boy now, he knew how to take care of himself. He was nearly 17.

Emilia thought about how she might not live a little longer and then made plans to go see a play with Phil in a week's time, assuming she lives that long. Needless to say, everyone in the room was shocked when she asked him out.

Alas, there were only 2 days left until the day of the ball.

* * *

 **End Notes: 2 days left.**

That's definitely coming along. I know some of you are thinking "Wow, this is going by quick. Seems a little rushed." For that I'd like to say, there's no really a lot left to sort out. Sure, a bit of drama with Ophelia & Kelly perhaps. Angie is in a good place right now, got her out of the hotel thing she stayed in, back home, she's worried; that's a good ending for her right now, unless I decide to do a chapter focused on her or something. Marco has his 'army' of 19 people xD which is probably what you could muster up, people are scared, people have families, they don't want to die. Alfonzo has done his part of instigating more drama between Matt and Ophelia, he's being supportive as he should be. Linking on, Matt & Ophelia are having their whole debacle right now. So really, there's only Marco & Ophelia's side stories to finish before we converge at the ball.

What did you think of this chapter? Few grammatical errors? Probably. Spelling errors? Absolutely. Am I lazy? Of course.

Let me know in the reviews! I thank you all for reading! :D

Til next time,  
 _vK_


	22. Drifting

**Notes:**

Hey it's me, for another chapter! Wooo. This one is speeding up a lot and I really hope you enjoy it, I've got more planned :)

 **Reviews:**

 **brody Putnum -** Thanks for the compliment :)

 **Bedrock Armor -** I already sent in my idea for the name - it does kind of put me at ease to know other people make stuff up like me as they're writing. Also, I wish you the best for that novel, sounds good :D

* * *

A lingering explosion of dust floated silently around the room; a few light rays entered through the cracked windows. Marco had been staying in one of the Tavern's lodgings, for the time being, he didn't have the money to rent out anywhere nice so he had to make do with it. Despite being 60% dust and 20% creaks, it was still probably more comfortable than his home. He only had a mattress to sleep on, apparently, this room was mostly used for storage, which was easy to guess based on the absurd number of boxes that stretched into every crevice of free space. Marco had to spend an hour on the first night just clearing boxes out of the way in order to get his mattress down.

It was strange to think in only a couple of days he'd be attempting to overthrow a country with a rag-tag bunch of rebels. Since he left the castle, the teen had a lot of free time to think about other things, how were Matt and Al doing? What was Star up to? What's River up to? It made him feel uneasy to know that River could do whatever he wanted in that castle and Marco would have no way to tell what happened until it was too late: A strong pain in his chest started to form. After a few exasperated breaths, he composed himself again, _Time to go down I suppose._ He grabbed the clothes that he wore after being banished from the castle, they had a small cut in his shirt from where a sword had accidentally scraped against him yesterday. The clothes had been washed by Samantha, Susan's niece, she was 11 this year – her mother and father were ravaged by a pack of wolves a few years ago. Luckily, Sam had been staying over at Susan's place that night.

Marco's hair had started to get rather greasy now, a few deep locks formed and diverged across his fringe, with a slight comb of his hands he placed the clusters back to their positions and proceeded to return to the tavern's core.

It was just as lively as every day before, the tempo never decreased despite how tensions kept on rising. Tom was chugging a bottle next to Dashon, "Those two idiots will drink themselves under in an hour at best." Susan commented; she was currently holding a tray of empty bottles.

"How long have they been like this?" The boy replied, not taking his eyes off the sight of a grown man absolutely destroying a teen in the drinking game. Multiple empty glasses were to the left of Dash with only a few to the right of Tom.

"Like this? Forever, those two really made a connection… At first, they butted heads all the time, but eventually, things calmed down and they talked things through more."

"Talked things through?" Marco asked in disbelief.

"God no!" She laughed, "They really are just two idiots who are too stubborn to admit when they're wrong so they just compete."

"What are they competing over?"

"Over who gets an assistant when this is all over." She whispered.

"But there'd be enough butlers for al—"

"Shh! Just let them fight out a little longer, it's great publicity for the bar. Anyway, I need to get these drinks refilled, see you around Marco." With those words, the maid threw herself back into the crowd heading for the bar. _What a strange place._

 **Castle Gardens**

Ophelia was chatting to some of the boys over by one of the fields, some of which were having a friendly game of cricket to try and woo the Princess. _Useless idiots._ Al thought to himself, watching on from a distance. Al was currently sitting on a patch of grass, twiddling a few strands of it he plucked earlier in his fingers. He had been enjoying the quiet life the past couple days, after his confrontation with Matt – the two hadn't really spoken. That was until he heard footsteps behind him. "Hey… Al." The voice belonged to Matthew, Al didn't acknowledge his presence, still annoyed at the fact he went straight to Ophelia. "Can I sit down?" Matt continued.

Al broke the grass between his fingers, "Yeah sure… Do what you want man." Matthew's hand was still bandaged up, a faint patch of red could be seen underneath the white tissue, the blade had pierced all the way through his hand. A near impossibility for him to form a fist.

"Yeah… Alright." His voice faded, after sitting himself down with some strain and a thud, the boy continued, "I'm sorry. For being a dick back in the rec room, but I still think Ophelia—" _Oh here we go again…_ "can be saved, she's not past the point—"

"What if she doesn't want to be saved, Matt? You thought of that?" Matthew was at a loss for words, "Maybe, just maybe, she doesn't want you to save her, perhaps she enjoys what she does."

"Nobody is born evil."

"Some people just like to hurt though; you haven't seen the world I have! You've spent all your life cooped in a perfect fantasy, one where everything is diplomatic, but the truth is!" Al had to take a breath, "The truth is… Some people are just beyond help… They kill, steal and pillage everything they want, and you sit there – thinking – hoping, for the nightmare to end. But the simple fact is, you only have yourself to blame for how things turned out. All the suffering in the world is caused by the incompetence of its people. You can't change someone by belief, that's bullshit and you know it. You're just too stuck up to admit that maybe - just maybe: You're wrong." A face of pain and torment shadowed Al's face. Matthew didn't have any words to combat that.

"… When did we… Drift this far apart?" Matt asked, frowning at the situation in front of him. Nobody noticed until it was too late. They started as friends, plotting, scheming together. Yet now it seemed as if they were stood opposing each other, on a battlefield where there'd be no victor.

"Guess it makes you think huh… Have we 3 really taken such drastic changes in our ideas? You were supposed to be the uncorrupted noble, yet here you are talking about how you'll do anything to save Ophelia – quite possibly the most corrupt noble. Marco was supposed to be inconspicuous but here he is dealing with the devil at every turn and doing whatever he wants… I'm here… I was supposed to be out… In the first few days… Return to my old life, enjoy youth – grow old. Now I'm part of a suicide pact."

"Well… If we're going separate ways, I guess that'll be the final time we talk right? As friends. So, I just want to say: Thanks Al, you were one of the good ones, one of the best lower-class man I've ever met."

"Likewise." Al said before standing up, "See you around, my Lord."

With a gulp, Matt stood up and faced the opposing teen, "See ya." Before setting off for where the other Chosen were playing cricket.

 **Star's Room**

Emilia had invited herself over to talk more with Star. They had started to form a good friendship, Star lent her the book that she'd been reading; the two were talking about it, or at least the start of it as Emilia had only read the first 50 pages or so. Alfonzo entered the room, "Al whatcha doin?" Star asked the girl was currently laid upside down off the end of her bed.

"We have a problem… I think we're 1 man down." He said as the teen approached the two women. "Matthew has… Turned his back on us, he's with Ophelia now." The two others in the room took a few seconds to ingest the news.

"HE WHAT?!" Both exclaimed simultaneously. "Why would he?" Asked Star.

"I don't know his full motives, but he said that he thinks Ophelia is good deep down… She just needs guidance."

"That's a load of bullcrap!" Star complained, to which Emilia just wildly nodded in agreement. "We have to get him back." She demanded and stood up, preparing to leave to find him.

"No." Alfonzo firmly said, "We can't afford you to throw the entire plan under the bus for this! What if River sees you," Star did remember that her father would be less than thrilled to see her around the castle during the stay of the Chosen… "Trust me, I've tried to talk him out of it. The man has already chosen his path, I don't think we'll be able to change his mind." Al had a sad look on his face, he didn't know the guy for that long, _he seemed like a genuinely good guy at the start. But now it looks like he's been tainted by that bitch._

"So… What now?" Emilia asked, standing up and cleaning crumbs from her waistcoat.

"We wait for Marco… I suppose."

 **Dungeons – 6 P.M.**

Kelly had been knocked unconscious by the guards to make it easier to transport her. She woke up with a splitting headache yesterday, the time she spent in here was mostly used to figure of a way out. However, it wasn't as easy as it seemed, the bars were old but still heavy metal – bending them was out of the question for her. Likewise, the walls were fully stoned: No wood. The girl resided herself to wait for the gracious arrival of the Princess, she was currently sat against a corner with her head rested on her legs. She'd been receiving food and water but not nearly enough, it hurt to swallow at this point from the dehydration.

The assassin tried to take her mind off the situation by reminiscing about her family. _I can't believe that bitch manipulated me like that… And I fell for it._ The guy wasn't scared for her life, being an assassin, she always knew that at some point another person would come in and off her. She was more disappointed at the fact that she let herself be so easily manipulated; she should've looked for proof! A harsh clang signaled the arrival of someone, whistling followed sue. "Oh, Kelly!" The voice rang out. It took the Princess a minute to reach the entrance of the cell, Kelly kept her head in her lap, not wanting to give Ophelia the satisfaction of seeing her like this. "Come on Kels, look at me. Take a good look at the one who you tried to kill." The girl finally decided it was enough, when she looked at 'Phe though – her eyes burned with hate. "Ooooo spooky." The Princess quietly rebuked. "You know, you and your little band of birdies were very useful to me. All that info you leaked. Really, you deserve props, Congratulations!" She began to slowly clap. "You could've made it so far… But you decided to backstab me. I'm not angry… Just hurt."

"Hurt?" Kelly chuckled & coughed. "I'll show you hurt when I get out of here, I swear I'll rip your throat out in front of that Timmings dick."

"See… We can't be having any of that now. While I appreciate the thought, I do quite like living so if you could just like… Die here, that'd be great." Ophelia finished as she began to leave back up the stairs.

"Is that really all you came to say?" Kelly called back.

This caused the Princess to pause for a moment and eventually return her head to face Kelly, "I just wanted one last memory of you, I'm so glad it got to be a feisty one too!" She finished with a smile, "Okay Jeremy, you can do your job now."

"Who's Jeremy?!" Kelly called out, a little panicked – she stood up and ran towards the bars to get a better look at the man now clambering his way down the stairs, hard thuds with each step.

"He's the Castle's lead interrogator, he loves messing with chemicals. I'm sure he has something extra special whipped up for you, my dear." The Princess set off upstairs.

"Yes, my highness." He wore a white coat, circular glasses and had a small briefcase with him. "Hello Kelly, or should I call you 'Raindrop'? That is your other name, right?" Kelly didn't say a word, just inspected him. "No need to answer, I know you're probably worried – a somewhat intimidating man with an intimidating briefcase, wearing a white cloak and menacing glasses – you should be. See, I was instructed to keep you alive. But at the same time, make your life a living hell. In this briefcase I have a neuromuscular-blocking drug, well actually a lot of it. About 6 vials, if given in full, just 1 of them would kill you. But if I change the dosage, we can get a lot more use of it."

"What does it do?" Kelly asked, a large lump beginning to form in her chest.

"I'm so very happy you asked that. Are you aware of what a 'diaphragm' is? It's the muscle used for operating your lungs so you can breathe, this drug paralyses it. Allowing for only slight movement, basically: It feels as if you're suffocating." Kelly's fear had fully erupted, she began to shake her head and back away from the bars.

"No, stay away from me!" She screamed.

"Guards!" Jeremy called, "Get in there and subdue her – it's time for the first dosage." The man had a maddened smile. Three guards came running down the stairs and unlocked the door, Kelly attempted to fight back – knocking one over and getting a good hit on another's face, but the armour was simply too strong for her to do enough damage. After a while they seized her body, her torso twisted in desperation to escape but the doctor was already upon her. "Don't fight back Kelly. It'll only make it worse if I were to _slip_ and hit an artery."

"No, no! Nawwwfff—" she was gagged now and held in place as the needle slowly entered her neck, her eyes widened at the sudden intrusion to her body.

"All done." The effect was almost immediate, the guards and doctor left the cell – Kelly began to convulse on the floor. Her chest reverberating in rapid oscillations, only a little bit of air could enter her system at a time. Short gasps could be heard from the young maiden, she struggled around on the cold wet stone more, her body began to lose strength – it focused on one thing: Survival. The girl felt as if she had an anchor placed on her lungs and they were exploding. A few tears began to form, the pain was unbearable: Just how long would this last?

 **Next Day – 1 Day Left – Tavern**

"Okay let's go over the plan once more," Susan suggested. Everyone was currently around the table, even Dash had stopped drinking to listen in. "At 10 PM while the ball is in full swing, the gates will be lowered thanks to Marco's inside man. We'll all enter at that time, Marco will split off to meet with his insiders, meanwhile, we'll be preparing for a storm in the great hall. We only get one chance at this, if it goes sideways, we'll all die." A few looks were exchanged around the room before they all converged back.

"If we weren't willing to die, we wouldn't be here." Said Tom.

"For once I agree with the twerp," Dash replied both of them smiled weakly.

"Okay. Well, if we're all in agreement. Let's get to work—" She was cut off suddenly by the sound of a crashing metal bucket on the floor, everyone whipped around to see a small shadow begin to run.

"STOP!" Yelled Marco and Tom at the same time and both pursued the spy. The other members looked at each other, all of them holding their breath.

"Wait!" Marco shouted they were outside the tavern now, making their way through the street. The assumed spy then took a right down a dingy alleyway – "I'll cut him off." Said Tom as he separated from Marco. The intruder was taking multiple twists and turns, a few ways were dead-ends which allowed Marco to catch up. The end of the alley was in sight, unlucky for Marco it was a bustling area – if the spy made it that far then there'd be no hope of finding him again. _Shit._ "Who are you?!" Marco shouted up front, it was worth a try to get him to speak… No avail. Surprising.

The guy was about to make it but then an arm reached across the exit and took the perpetrator out, at this point, he was smashed onto the ground and let out a groan. "ahh me 'ed." _Wait._

Tom immediately recognised the intruder as his brother, "Markus?!" He asked in disbelief, "What the hell are you doing here?"

"I should be askin' you the same thing bro. What the 'ell was all dat about in there, overthrowing? You some kinda terrorist?" He seemed genuinely confused as well as a little annoyed at the close line he received.

"No… Well yeah but that's not the point, listen – you cannot tell anyone okay… What you heard, never happened."

"Yeah yeah sure—"

"No!" Tom pointed at him, "Listen here, we'll all die if they find out, you will, I will, everyone there will. It'll be your fault Mark if this leaks."

"Okay. I get it. I understand I won't tell anyone bro. Trust me." Marco still seemed unnerved, after all, Markus did confess to hooking up with Ophelia after just a few drinks and a little buddy-buddy time. Could he really be counted on to keep something like this secret? Even if it's just for 1 day?

"Understood," Tom said as he put his hand out to help pick up his brother from the floor, "Everything is gonna be better for us soon, ya hear?" To which his brother only nodded and then left toward some random way, Marco and Tom walked back to the Tavern to inform them of the current crisis aversion.

The group was still wary about their plan being spilled to Markus, but they eventually got over it. Furthermore, they decided to push the plan forward 1 hour to 9 PM because of this.

Everything else ended peacefully, Star finished her day with another bath – the red marks and scars still haunted her, but she was doing much better thanks to Emilia's conversations.

Al spent most of the day writing a diary, he wanted to keep track of things from now on. Record all his feelings, he had enough of sitting idly by too. If he returned home… When he returns home, he said he'll change, devote himself to going to school, learn as much as he can and change the rotten country through politics and democracy. A noble goal if I do say so.

Matt and Ophelia spent the night like rabbits, the two had recently released themselves of the shackles that once bound them; for Matt it was his friends, the only thing that stopped him fully realising what he wanted to do, he was going to save Ophelia. Meanwhile, for the Princess in question, she released herself of the burden that was Kelly – knowing that she was currently writhing in agony actually was a bit of a turn on for the Princess. A sadist through and through.

 **The Day of the Ball**

* * *

 **End** **Notes:** Here it is, the final day of the Choosing. How will it play out? I wonder. I feel bad for Kelly, the poor thing - it must be horrible to have to be like that for so long...

What'd you think of the chapter? Good? Bad? Changes you'd make? Leave it all in the review section! :D

Thanks for reading,  
 _vK_


	23. The Siege

**Notes:** This is a long one. My longest chapter, Enjoy.

 **Reviews:**

 **Bedrock Armor -** :)

 **thelegendofstarco -** :)

* * *

 **Star's Room**

Star had been enjoying Emilia's company once more, the two were in the midst of sharing a plentiful supply of pudding. The Princess was currently sat on her chair, leaning back with her feet on the desk – "Mmm, zis is shooo gooood." She cooed as another spoonful founds its way into her mouth. The maidservant was sat on the bed, legs crossed scooping the last remaining clumps from the bottom of the bowl.

"Sho Star…" *Gulp* "About that book you let me borrow, didn't you think it felt really cliché when Alex takes the arrow for Jibril?"

"'ou dought it was fliché?" Star had to take a moment to finish the current slurp of pudding, "I thought it was lovely! And when he picks her up in his arms after, ooooo! It's so cute!"

"It wasn't bad, however, I enjoyed David's parts more, just thinking about that hunk makes drool." Star simply wiggled her eyebrows toward the maid, at which, said maid blushed slightly and looked away. Star's teasing was cut short by the loud clanks of footsteps approaching her door.

"Hide!" Star whisper-shouted toward Emilia. Panicked, the servant looked for the simplest hiding spot, which just so happened to be under Star's bed. The Butterfly quickly jumped on top of the bed and pretended to be reading, that was when the monstrous shape of River took hold of the door's entirety. "Hello, father." Star politely greeted. The man looked around for a minute before smelling the pudding.

"Pudding? What are we stealing from the cafeteria now?!" The King asked looking down on the Princess.

"N-No father… It – It was a gift."

"A gift? From who?! You expect me to believe someone actually gives a damn about you in this castle?!" His anger flourished, "Let me make this clear Star, you are nothing but meaningless existence here." Emilia's hands clasped tightly, she was so close to getting out and beating the shit out of River; at least attempt to. "But that's not why I'm here. You'll be spending tonight in the dungeons, I can't afford to have you mess up your sister's results and ball—"  
"But that's unfair, this is my ro—"  
"WHAT?!" He burst forth, making his way over to Star with heavy thumps, Emilia was ready.  
"My apologies, I'm sorry – I didn't mean it father—"  
"KING!" He responded coldly; his hand started to quiver. Star looked down, preparing herself for another blow. "You think this is your room? This is simply a cage meant to house your… Disappointment."  
"I'm s-sorry I didn't mean to insult you, I was just mentioning—"  
*CREAK*  
The floorboards, which haven't been maintained in a long time had eventually given slightly under Emilia's weight pushing down. Dread filled Star and Emilia – if she was caught under the bed, she'd probably be hung for treason or something ridiculous. "Yes, okay father!" Star tried her best to cover it up, "Whatever you say, I'll stay in the dungeons!"

"What was that?" He asked, fist still clenched.

"Must've just been an old board, you know how this castle is—"

"Don't lie to me."

…

The King began to make his way to the side of the bed, the drapes of the bedding hid the underneath from view until you pulled them up. A lump began to create a void in Star's throat, her spine was still paralysed from the fear of her father, she knew that she had to save Emilia but anything below her neck refused to move. _COME ON… PLEASE, STOP HIM!_ She begged with herself, to which her legs responded by simply twitching. "OKAY!" She screamed in an outburst, his face returned to eye-level, "It's a mouse." She blurted without thinking, "I've been keeping a mouse as a friend." Thankfully River wasn't too suspicious of her actions. Needless to say, being as prideful as he is, the man would father save himself the action of having to kneel to look under the bed.

"Very well. I'll get the pest-extermination squad up here. Can't be having any of that filth lying around, you'd best be going down now. Bestn't you?" It was more of a threat than a question. Star humbly nodded and tip-tapped her way out the room quickly, River was soon to follow. Once the coast was clear, Emilia let out a large sigh of relief.

 **Matthew & Ophelia**

Matthew stirred; he was exhausted from last night. His body ached, not to mention his hand – which was still covered in bandages thanks to Kelly's surprise attack. When his eyes fluttered open, they were staring into the back of a pink-haired girl, some of the pink strands had glued themselves to his face. He pulled the Princess in closer; this awoke her. "Hmm?" She asked, nuzzling herself further into his neck.

"I think it's time we get up." Matthew noted, looking at the brightness it seemed to be around 10 am, "Things will get suspicious if you're missing for too long."

"I could get out… Or I could _sit_ here a little longer." Where she said 'sit', the girl pushed herself further into his lower regions, granting a slight moan from the teen.

"No matter how much I love the sound of it, I think we should save ourselves until _later._ "

The girl sighed and pushed herself away, sitting up to give Matthew a better view of her top region. "I'll never get bored of that." He commented.

"I'll make sure you do." She said with a smirk before standing up and getting to the bathroom, after waiting a little bit Matthew himself drove himself out of bed and got changed before heading out back to his room, careful to avoid any watchful eyes as he made his way there. The Princess' were housed on the same floor. As he was making his way to the stairs, a small clank could be heard from Star's door. _Oh shit._ He thought before looking around for a place to hide, there was not enough time to find any place good and so the door opened to a servant-ess creeping outside.

"Matt?!" She exclaimed, surprised to find him on the royal floor.

"hi." He sheepishly replied.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, he only rubbed his hands together.

"I got lost."

"Don't try that shit with me." She pointed at him with an unconvinced gaze.

"I went to see Ophelia to try and talk things through with her, she's having none of it though." It wasn't a total lie.

"Oh yeah?" She asked, "And tell me, did this talk involve you two in a bed?" Matthew didn't have a way to respond, he held his breath and looked around, a little embarrassed. "You know what forget it, I don't want to know. You keep me being here a secret, and I keep you fucking the Princess a secret, Deal?" Emilia wasn't really in the mood to mince her words before he had the chance to retort she was already making her way down the stairs. _Now for the potion._

 **Dungeon – 10:40 A.M.**

Star's father had brought her down, made sure that she made it to the dungeon. Once at the doorway, he simply commanded her to go down and the officer would show her into the prison. _Not as different from my room._ She thought as the girl made her way down the steep stone stairs. She could hear whimpering coming from one of the cells but before she could get a good look the guard came over. "Miss, this way please." They approached the cell of the curious sounds, as Star passed it, she saw what seemed to be a ball of green in the corner, panting heavily but shallow breaths. The light was too dim in the cell to get a good view, the candles only lit the guard's path.

"Hey!" She cried, "you alright?" No response came, the guard became a little more forceful.

"Miss, we encourage you not to speak with other prisoners. This way." The guard now took her hand and dragged her toward the neighbouring cell, there was a stone wall between the two cells and so communication seemed almost impossible. "In here please." The cell's bars were rusted, there appeared to be a little bit of dried blood on a couple of the bars – hell knows what happened here. The Butterfly knew she didn't have a chance of escape, the guard was on-guard constantly.

After the door had been closed and the guard left back toward his desk, Star began to look for an escape. _Dad can get stuffed if he thinks I'm gonna sit here waiting._ A determined look paved her face and with that resolve, she inspected the inside of the cage. After a minute she found a small crack in the wall that led to the neighbouring cell, it was a few inches wide and on a couple of inches high, maybe enough for a cheek of a person to be seen. Star took a peek and spotted the ball of clothing on the other side of the cell. "Psst." She whispered, a slight movement in acknowledgement was seen, "It's gonna be okay. Come here, can you? Can you move? What'd they do?" It took a while, but eventually, the ball of matter looked towards Star – it was still too dark to make any faces. No verbal response came but the ball unfolded and began to wiggle its way slowly toward Star. Only a few inches at a time, with plenty of breaths in between.

Roughly 10 minutes later the adjacent prisoner wormed their way to the gap, "Come on, give me your hand." Star asked, wiggling her digits through the gap, attempting to give comfort. The spread-out person took a while but the hand of the target eventually moved and clasped Star's hand. The victim's hands were cold, but still sweaty as if they're in a constant state of pain. "What happened?" Star asked once more. No response, only pants. "Don't worry, we'll get out soon. I know it!"

"Kelly!" Came a whispery voice from out the cells. _Kelly?_ "It's time for your medication." The opposing cellmate began to worm violently, breathing even harder.

"nnnn…." It cried, making noise violently from within but unable to form words.

"Stop!" Star begged. The man had entered Kelly's cell along with 2 guards. "I said stop!" She shrieked, hoping to get them off – to no avail though.

"Please miss, you'll be next if you don't quit it." The doc replied coldly before shifting Kelly's head to expose her neck, to which Kelly only internally screamed more. A few seconds later and the prisoner was on the floor again, completely motionless but breathing hard. It seemed to be even more shallow than previously. "We're done here," Jeremy said as he looked towards the guards and the 3 of them left.

"Kelly?" Star asked, "Listen, I know you've… Done stuff. But listen, I'm here for you! We're going to get out of here, just hold on! Don't give up."

"h…urt…s…" The girl writhed out before returning to her action. She was a few feet away from Star now, they dragged her back into the middle of the room to get enough light.

"I'm right here." Star confided, "I'm not leaving you – just hang on… Marco will be here soon."

 **Kitchen - 10:50 AM**

The kitchen would be busy all-day preparing food for the ball, it wouldn't be too hard for her to slip in and nab a few things. The door swung open, what seemed like a million chefs: Whisked, Sliced and Baked in unison, a perfect culinary harmony. To be frank, it was impressive the amount of precision that each chef put into their work, Emilia slipped through the onslaught of food to find what she needed. Luckily everything had been labelled up for her, it took around 15 minutes to grab everything she needed. When questioned as to why she was in the kitchen, her simple response was "My Chosen would like it." The Chefs weren't bold enough to question the wishes of a temporary noble and so went about their business as usual.

After acquiring the needed ingredients, she returned to Glossaryck's library to concoct the sleeping agent. Glossaryck's liked to meddle in botany so he had a mortar and pestle in one of his many draws. A wicked smile crept on Emilia's face just thinking about how fun this was going to be, the guards never really got on with the servants – they were always stuck up about certain places you could or couldn't go. A real pain in the ass.

 **Tavern – 1 P.M.**

"Do'ya got those swords yet?" Dash called out for Tess.

"You wanna carry these?" Came a voice back from the shed they used to store weapons and necessities.

"Nah I'm a'ight thanks."

"You guys finished up yet?" Came Susan's voice from inside the Tavern.

"Nearly there, keep yer panties on woman."

Back inside the Tavern, Marco and Tom had been revising the plan for going into the castle and the rest of the crew were making sure that everything was going to go smoothly getting to the castle, securing the pathways and such. They couldn't use the road that usually led from the town to the castle as all the noble guests would've been travelling along there and the last thing they needed was to run into some of them.

"Marco… Do you think this will work?"

"Getting butterflies are we Tom?" Marco asked, a little teasingly.

"…"

"Yeah… It will, it has to."

"Don't you think this plan relies on too much? What if there are too many guards? Then what?"

"If there is… I don't know… But I can tell you that this is the best chance we'll get: Ever. After today, the castle won't be this defenceless for a long time, it has to be now. Is there a better plan we could've come up with? Probably. Now isn't the time for wishful thinking, we have to do this, for everyone we love and will love. The King's oppression is over: Today."

He himself is the spark which will light the fire that burns the monarchy to the ground.

"… Wow, you really have a way with words, don't you?" Marco only nervously chuckled and sheepishly scratched his head before returning to the documents. "I didn't know you for long Marco Diaz, but if this is my last day; I want to tell you that you're a really solid guy."

"Thanks, Tom. You too."

 **7 P.M.**

It was time to set off.

The Taverneers packed their weapons, decorated themselves in masks and wished their families the best. "I wanna go!" Sam complained, to which Susan picked her up and hugged her before looking into her eyes. "Sweetie, I've got to go for a little bit but don't worry, Margaret from down the street will look after you until I get back. I love you, and that's why I won't let you come. It's too dangerous."

"But I've got big and strong now!" The girl complained, "I've grown up so I can help!"

A tear began to well up in Susan's eye, "No dear. You've got to stay here, promise me that. Pinky promise you'll stay here."

Sam's lips began to wobble, "Okay… Okay but come back, auntie!"

Susie smiled before leaving with, "I will." And just like that, the group were off to the castle.

 **8:25 P.M.**

The group walked slightly slower than Marco and Star did on their first trip down to town so they arrived a little later than Marco originally expected, but it was fine as the timings allowed for it. They all waited at the back entrance, on the way up they saw a plentiful amount of carriages drawing nobles from all across Mewni: House of Dale, House of Timmings, House of Montorno etc. All the Chosen's families were invited along with a few others e.g. high-ranking merchants.

 **8:30 P.M. – Castle Guards**

"Hello?" Called a familiar servant's voice holding a tray of tea.

"Hey." Replied one of the guards, they were stood up overlooking the entrance.

"I've brought refreshments." The guards looked a little confused at first, slightly suspicious at the offer, "The King's orders, we're supposed to bring tea to all the guards as thanks on this glorious day of the Choosing." A decent enough lie to convince the guards to partake in the thirst-quenching beverage. "Well, I've got other people to see, see you later!" Emilia called back before stepping down the stairs, a smirk on her face. She waited at the bottom of the stairs for about 15 minutes. It took that long for the mixture to worm its way through the guards' system.

Once she was sure they were knocked out, the maid returned to the top of the overlook and pushed the release mechanism for the bridge, with a monstrous thud it hit the soft muddy ground and opened the path straight to the castle's heart. _Great._ Thought Marco before giving the nod that it was time.

At 8:45 P.M. The Siege commenced.

"Marco, you and Tom go for the Princess, the rest of us will storm the ballroom," Susan commanded before splitting off with the rest of the group, Dash gave a cheeky wink before drawing his sword. Emilia reached the bottom of the lookout and shouted for Marco.

"Star's in the dungeon!" Marco was already running away and didn't have time to question it, although it did kind of piss him off that River would pull that kind of shit while he was gone, _I hope she's okay. Now… Where the f*** is the dungeon?_

Marco assumed the stairs would lead to it if they went down but he didn't know for certain. That was when a singular guard arose from a set of stairs, Tom and Marco exchanged a look at they ran, agreeing on a strategy the guard wasn't even sure what hit him before he was on the floor and held down by a couple of _very_ intimidating teens in masks. "Where's the dungeon?" Marco interrogated the guard as he pushed a blade against the guard's throat.

"down the stairs." The guard choked out before Tom whacked him unconscious.

"Yo Marco that was smooth—"  
"Oh my God I know!—"  
"as fuck!"  
"Did you see that?! I was all like 'Where's the dungeons?'" He pronounced the question in a very masculine voice, one which he did not do whilst interrogating the guard.

At the end of the day, they really were two idiot boys.

 **Dungeon – 8:49 P.M.**

The metal door opened with a huge swing, letting light pour into the cellblock. "STAR BUTTERFLY!" Marco shouted, "GRAB YOUR COAT!" Before the doors closed and the light ceased, surrounding the room in darkness again. _The fuck?_ The guard thought as he stood up to go inspect the intruder, after turning onto the stairs he noticed the intruders, his sword was too large to unsheathe in this large space and he only fumbled when trying to do so. That was when Tom kneed the guard in the head and he tipped back onto the ground. "Aghh.." The guard complained as he cradled his head, the metal helmet really shook up his brain.

At the announcement of her saviour, Star stood up and reached for the bars to the cell – banging them and shouting, "OVER HERE MARCO!" Once she signalled him, the boy came running for the cell. _Keys._

"Tom throw me those keys!" Marco shouted back, Tom checked his surroundings for them but couldn't find them on the desk, "Check his pockets!" ' _Ah, there we go'_ Thought Tom as he ripped out the large ring of keys, _'Oh dear.'_

"Have fun, Marco!" He shouted back along with throwing the keys.

"Oh…" Marco said as he began to try every key, there were at least 50. It took about 10 tries thankfully before the door opened up. "Okay let's go!" Marco said as he grabbed Star by the wrist and began to leave.

"Wait! We need to rescue her too!" Star pointed to her opposing jail buddy, Marco looked over and grabbed a candle to ignite the air around the cell.

"Kelly?" Marco asked, "After what she did?"

"Marco Diaz!" Star said in a commanding tone, "Open that door." Kelly was still motionless, her breath was becoming a little more normal now, after a few hours it seemed to wear off a lot. But she was still panting heavily, she'd been like this for nearly 2 days. A horrible existence.

"Ugh fine." He said before shifting through keys, this time it took about 35 tries before getting the right key. "Okay Kelly come on!" He shouted but she didn't move.

"She can't Marco, they injected her with some drug and she can't move."

"Really?! Fine!" He submitted, "Tom come help me carry this girl out."

"I didn't sign up for becoming a robin hood."

"Just grab her!" Marco replied before the 4 made there way back up the stairs towards the ballroom.

 **Ball Room – 9:01 P.M.**

The quartet finally made their way to the room but when they approached the door, something was off. There wasn't any sound of the Taverneers inside. Marco peeked through the door, eyes becoming wide and a tightness in his chest only comparable to what Kelly must feel.

The rebellion was… On their knees, and each with a sword pointed at their throats. Tom was next to look as he was curious what had Marco looked so terrified when he saw what was going on – it took Marco everything he had to stop the teen from charging in to save his friends.

 **Ball Room – 8:49 P.M.**

The group burst through the door, "KING!" Susan shouted, "We've come here to-… Wait…" There was nobody in the room, an empty ballroom that had the throne chairs empty.

Dash was the next to speak, "Did we get the wrong room?"

"No. You didn't." Ophelia's voiced boomed down from the balcony above, "It's just that I'm more well informed that you thought." She said before presenting Markus to the audience.

"You little shit." Dash spat.

"This isn't what I meant, I only came to try and save everyone, you – you were gonna get yourselves killed! I only came here because… I had to! To save you all."

"You've saved them alright." River's voice boomed from the other side, at that signal the doors closed and guards rushed in, surrounding the intruders. "You've saved them from ruling a country. Really, boy you are an idiot, saved them from death? Is that what little idea your stupid brain came up with? No, we're going to execute all of them. Thanks for the information though little one, I might give you a coin or two for this." After the guards had been brought in, the party guests were next… To presumably experience 'How King River deals with treason.' Alfonzo was among those guests when he saw the group his eyes scanned for Marco, it put him at ease to know that Marco wasn't there.

"I want all to bear witness!" Ophelia started. "When I'm Queen I'll accept nothing less than total submission, and if you're wondering what going against me results in. Let this be a lesson."

That was when Marco's group peered in through the door.

Al stepped out, "Your Majesties, with all due respect – is this not a little brutish? To execute people without first interrogating them? Or at the very least imprison them for trial?"

"Hmm…" 'Phe thought for a moment. Queen Moon was stood beside River, looking rather nervous at the outcome, she hadn't been able to see Star at all these past few days, only recently to hear she was in the dungeon. The Queen was fully aware of what monsters lurked down there. She didn't really think much of the intruders right now, her only worries were about Star. "Execute him too." She commanded, Matt looked rather displeased and tried to grab Ophelia's attention, despite not seeing eye to eye with Al anymore he couldn't overlook his murder.

From the shadows, "Tom take care of Star and Kelly. Get ready to bolt out if we need to."  
"Wa-wha-"

That was the point at which Marco burst through the door, "STOP!" He commanded. The guards whipped around to see the newcomer; Ophelia only smirked. The Taverneers reared their heads around to look at the boy, Dashon had a warm smile towards the kid. Susan couldn't stop thinking about her niece.

"So that's where you were hiding." She applauded, "I didn't think you'd get here in time."

"You want me? Okay, have me, those people have nothing to do with this – it was only me!" Desperation laced his voice, "Al especially has done nothing wrong, I tried to get him in on this but he declined."

"So, you're saying he knew about an attempt at overthrowing and refused to tell the Crown? Seems pretty treasonous to me." _Fuck_.

"No, I only told him I was going to get back at you, not what I was planning."

"Regardless he still knew about something and refused to inform us…" She had a point. "Relax Marco, I'm not going to kill them."

"You're not?" He asked, still slightly on-edge.

"Oh God no, did you actually believe that?" She laughed, "Kill them."

"NO!" Marco cried.  
"OPHELIA!" Matt shouted.  
Tom could only scream into his clothes to stop any sound; he closed his eyes.  
Emilia rejoined the party much earlier and was stood at the back, her hand covering her mouth which was agape at the thought of Al dying.

It was too late though; the blades had already found their victims, Al's heart had been pierced through, similarly, the rest of the group were punctured. Dashon gave one final look to Marco and mouthed "Good try kid." Susan couldn't stop tears and cried in agony before falling. The two brothers who were bakers fell onto each other; Tess screamed one final curse word before falling. It was over in a second, but it felt like an eternity. All the sound stopped for Marco; his heart throbbed in a pain he never thought he'd experience since his father. Emilia stood in the back and finally had enough – leaving the room and bawling into her hands before returning to see Ophelia's next command. At which point, she left, sprinting.

"Now get them," Ophelia commanded; the blood-stained guards proceeded to make a break for Marco. Being brought to his senses, his fight or flight took over and he ran, throwing the doors closed behind him he helped pick up Kelly and ran as fast he could, and he ran, not stopping for anything. Star's tears dropped onto the hard pebble floor. The guards had burst through the door and were following the team, they had to lose them. How? None of them could think right now. That was when another door opened to the guys left, _Emilia?_

"Get in." She shouted, leaving the door open. Once everyone was inside, she closed the door and pushed a bookshelf in front of it to stop them from getting in. It didn't do much as they began to hack away at the door, tenacious. "Go down here." She said, pointing to a shoot with a sign that read "Laundry shoot." Nobody had time to argue, Tom dropped first, then Star, then Kelly, they Marco and finally Emilia. Luckily, the guards' armour was too thick to fit through the shoot so once they actually got into the room they'd need to go and find them.

Marco was still in disbelief; he didn't think Ophelia would really go through with it. _Why didn't Matt say anything earlier?_

Once all of them landed on a soft padded pile of clothes, the team of 5 made a break for the exit, planning to escape through the front this time. The asynchronous repetition of footsteps kept most of them sane. Eventually, they reached the front and found a horse-drawn carriage, Emilia opened the door and pushed everyone in, she grabbed the reigns and took off down the mountain at top speed.

By the time the guards realised what had happened they were already outside the perimeter of the walls and making a break for the town. They had one last stop.

All the teens collapsed, Kelly was still unable to move very well but her senses were coming back – she heard what went on in the ballroom, despite not knowing anyone in there she still felt sad at the amount of death that ensued, they were good people. Dying for a just cause.

Star blamed herself for a lot of it, she's the rightful crown princess, she could've commanded them to stop over that bitch…

Marco & Tom felt guilty for not stopping Markus back when they caught him if they had done then maybe this could've been avoided.

Everyone was in a state of denial, Emilia's tears dried up to the winds, but a lingering pain was left in her chest. Everything she'd known for what seems like forever, gone. Her friends, her job, her home… Before Al went out, he had entrusted his notebook to her, all his final words – he wrote messages in there for Marco and others… Did he expect this outcome?

With a clip-clop the troop finally made it to the Tavern, Tom darted in. "Listen here sweetie, I know Susan said she'll be coming back and you should wait at Margaret's until then but I'm going to take care of you okay? Come on, let's go."

"But what if auntie comes back and I'm gone, where will she find me?"

"Don't worry, she'll find you, she always does right?"

"Yeah! She does." The girl said, "But what about my doll?"

"Quickly, quick quick quick!" Tom repeated as she rushed up the stairs, his chest seemed crushed by the conversation he knew he'd eventually have to have with her. The boy stood taking in the aroma, just a few days ago he was having a drinking game with Dash – that was the last one… Just yesterday he saw Susan pouring drinks to all the customers, Dave & Mike the bakers… But not anymore. He decided to grab some food for the road and carrots for the horses, it was the best he could do.

"I got it!" Sam said as she jumped down.

"Okay let's go!" Tom said as he pulled along the girl out of the building. "Goodbye." He whispered under his breath before jumping into the carriage, with that, Emilia pulled away – trying to get anywhere safer, out of the range of the dogs.

With those final thoughts, everyone drifted into a sleep – exhausted from everything. Tears were a common occurrence throughout the night, Marco woke up multiple times – still seeing their dying faces.

 **The Next Morning**

Emilia had stopped the carriage in a clearing of the forest, she slept in the carriage too – it was fairly large. Albeit, packed when everyone was in there, but enough room for everyone to sleep.

It was about 8 A.M. when they all woke. Bags under their red eyes, and faces to match.

"What now?" Asked Star, looking around at the assortment of people they collected. Kelly's breathing had mostly recovered and so she was able to sit up properly now.

"I-… I don't know." Marco said.

* * *

The Story Will Continue.


	24. Author Note 2 19 04 2019

Okay, it's me!

So I'm going to make a note on why I removed the latest chapter 'Troubled'. I think this is my 2nd chapter I've removed/changed heavily from it's original publish date.

Let me be clear, the overall plot won't change - so you won't need to re-read it, however, that chapter won't make a return until a little later.

 **I myself wasn't happy upon looking back on the chapter - and I've read the reviews, you guys don't think so too** \- that's fine! That's good! Thank you so much for keeping me on track, at the time of writing I had 6 hours of sleep and just came back from having to go back into college during my break to do 5-6 hours of pure maths. It was exhausting, and I was exhausted.

I went into that chapter without having much of an idea, and I thought. _Ah we need a wee timeskip._ We don't. That was poor judgement on my part and I made a huge mistake in doing that. I thought Marco needed to be depressed for a while, and he is! He's super angry, frustrated and sad about himself. He doesn't know what to do right now, he just saw a group of people get massacred because of his plan and failure to stop Markus, for him who shed a tear for a librarian he only met a few times - seeing something like that and knowing he was the one who did it: It wrecks a guy.

I'm going to do a few replies here to the recent reviews & past ones that were answered during 'Troubled':

legendofstarco - Thanks for the compliment, I hope you continue reading :)

Damunyo - Oof indeed brethren, I hope this change will lead to a better story.

SugarQueen97 - don't worry ! Marco and Star are still the main focus of the romantic scene, eventually :) I promise you that. I'll try my best to get Star to be more individualised too!

SixStringBass -

* * *

Hindi was a random language I found xD there's no real meaning to it, I'm pretty sure it translates with something to do with satan. Anyway, I agree that the recent chapter wasn't good, it was rushed and there's no excuse, I made a mistake... The fact that it's 'deviated from the plot' as you've stated before is something I don't think there's a problem with. If I recall, ' _What'll happen when these two form a bond over their hate for the monarchy?_ ' Is the line I used in the summary... The answer is this. All of this because those two hate the monarchy, Star has been punished, beaten, and much more that I haven't disclosed yet. Marco received no financial compensation for his father's death, if there had been better safety precautions - a collapse like that wouldn't have happened in the mine. I could create a second story as a sequel story but that seems like a huge pain for both the reader and I.

So I won't, at the end of the day it's about Marco and Star budding a partnership to take on Ophelia & River along with whoever gets in their way - the mission hasn't really changed, it's just that there needs to be more, I couldn't give them the satisfying ending with only 2 weeks under their belts. They are teenagers after all, they don't know the first thing about running a country or strategy other than just some basic misdirection, diversion etc. They don't have the specialists needed for explosives, master thieves who can pick lock, they're just kids... Right now.

I can't have them magically get a new group either, they need to find someone to help them - that is where the Crazy Queen comes in, I don't want to spoil it in public for what I have planned with her - although it's pretty easy to figure out if you know my writing style but I digress. Yes, I need more work with how the king is: Why the people want him gone, what his motives are, who he used to be, the taxes people endure, the trade with other countries, relationships with them, I'll get there.

My main focus was to heal the core group before detailing more of that, but I see that's caused quite the rift. I also admit that it _does_ go another direction than what it seems - this isn't going to be a short sweet story. People are going to die, Emilia _could_ die, Marco _could_ die, there are no victors in war, make no mistake this is a civil war on the uprising right now - at least, the way things are headed for the group.

To go with your other points - 'building tension, suspense between characters' I get it! I want to do that, but there isn't much to create suspense right now, I'll probably play with Kelly + Star's relationship a little. Absolutely will I toy with Matt + Ophelia: That's a gold mine for tension in the castle. Furthermore, I appreciate what you said about enjoying the **"** **fluff that is Star and Marco"** they'll be more of that eventually, but right now it's a dark place for everyone.

I understand if you've dropped the story because of the direction I accidentally fell into. That's okay, I drop stories if I start to not enjoy them as much, I understand. I thought I should give you an explanation of my thought-process and thank you properly for the advice you've given me.

* * *

Well, that about sums it up! I'm going to try create a bigger, more detailed world for you all to enjoy, however, the problem with it is - they'll be quite a few chapters where nothing really happens, it'll be an exposition dump - I want to avoid that, and don't get me wrong I'll try my very best to keep it somewhat entertaining, but I have a very limited set of characters right now, I've got 6 people in the core group and then at the castle: 3? River, Ophelia and Matt. Perhaps servants could have some story-time, but I don't feel a need to keep them in the spotlight anymore, it'd just be a waste of text imo.

I'll see what I can do with the frequency of the chapters being published, I go back to college in 3 days officially so that's a bit of an 00f.

I appreciate this has been a long author note and most of you won't have read it - but there's my message back to you guys.

Thank you,  
vK


	25. The Day After

**Notes:**

Hi, I enjoyed this chapter a lot more than the previous version - it feels more natural to me. It's a little slower, the next chapter(s) will be too, but I think that's okay. That's good, I'm looking forward to including more hard-hitting scenes, dealing with loss and such in the short-future.

 **Reviews:**

 **Slimster22 -** Thanks :)

 **Celestialfyxen -** I'll keep my reply short 'cause I don't want to make a wall of text: Thanks for the advice, and compliment - I've made a notepad on what you've said, outlaying your biggest problems with the chapter and suggestions, they're very helpful - thanks a million! I'll split your paragraphs into (1) (2) etc, (1) My idea wasn't to have him become a completely apathetic criminal, it was for him to drown himself in something - make himself forget, the future would've had him talk to Star and say "I've thought about them 0 times recently, I'm actually enjoying life and you want me to stop?!" Which would lead to more drama but eh, it's a shit in retrospect. Kelly didn't tell them she killed a guy, doubt she would've anyway, for the last point there he doesn't have much of a choice - he needs her skills.  
(2) Fair point, 100% agreeable and I get it. I need to work on my Star character :) The thing about him 'not wanting to steal' from his own social-group is a bit of a misstep, he doesn't have a problem. He needs to survive, he wants his friends to survive, he wants Samantha to survive, he owes Susan that much - to make sure she has a good, healthy life. If he needed to steal from a baker who produces a lot of bread per day to make that happen, or a fruit seller: He would.  
(3) I think you meant Tom? I'll get to it eventually ;)  
(4) He is, I hope to explore him more - he might have started correct and been corrupted or he might've always been corrupt :) We'll see.  
(5) If I did contradict myself, like I said, I had 6 hours of sleep - I wasn't thinking straight, but thanks for pointing that out :)  
(6) I hope you enjoy, and I'd appreciate anymore thoughts you have! I love hearing them.

 **Enjoy~**

* * *

"I-… I don't know." Marco said, his eyes were sunken and his breath harsh – it felt as if someone was choking him. The boy didn't have a lot of time to comprehend what had happened back at the castle, now that the group had successfully escaped the manhunt, it had finally set in that Alfonzo died… Dash, Susan, Roxie, Daniel, Craig, Dave, Mike, Tess… All dead: Ophelia killed them, in front of him and it was him that dragged them to their graves.

"Well, that went dreadful," Kelly noted, stretching her arms. The rest of the group turned to face her after the comment, "What?"

Emilia sighed, "Aren't you a ray of sunshine." She mentioned in a quiet voice.

This seemed to provoke Kelly a little, "Name's Kelly, I don't think we've met."

"Emilia. Pleasure." The maid spat back, something about the green-haired youngster irked her, she wasn't sure what.

The group found themselves in a lush green forest, it seemed the King's corruption and greed hadn't spread this far yet, Mewni was a country known for its lumber & fruit trade, something in the soil helped fruit & vegetables grow to be quite exquisite. The King exploited this miracle to put the country into a pool of wealth, however, the cost of which meant that near any civilisation there was a drought of forestry. The closest thing you'd be able to find was a bush of nettles and random weeds that cracked their way through the stoned streets. "Wow." Tom observed, "The air feels so fresh here." At that comment, everyone took a deep breath in.

"Yeah, that feels great…" Star replied, her voice felt faint and lacked her recent energy.

Samantha chimed in; she didn't really understand what was going on – perhaps that was a good thing, "Wowie! I've never been somewhere that smelled soooo good!" The little girl brought a small smile to Star's face.

"What's your name sweetie?" Star asked as she crouched down slightly to meet Samantha's eyes.

"Samantha Caulwind, what's yours miss?"

"Star B-…" The name made her voice quiver… Thinking that someone which shared her blood: Her father, allowed the murder of so many people – he could've stopped Ophelia, but he didn't… "Butterfly." She added at the end with a fake smile.

"WOAH! You're royalty?!" The girl exclaimed, her mouth agape – she started pulling on Tom's top, "Did you know she's royalty?!"

Tom snapped out of his daydream, "Uh, yeah I did." The girl gasped.

Emilia chuckled and asked if she should get breakfast started, the group unanimously agreed that they were famished. Everyone managed to put on fake faces for Sam, it was a silent agreement that they'd try to keep her farthest from the truth of why she had to leave so suddenly… And what happened to her aunt. The task was difficult for Marco, a joyous bundle of fluff constantly reminded him that there'd be a time when he'd have to tell her that it was his fault her auntie wouldn't be coming back.

Tom had managed to swipe good survival food; a couple of loaves of bread which were high in carbohydrates. Some sealed foods that were good for replenishing salts and ions, and a few slices of meat that were from the day before's menu, they'd go bad pretty quick so they were what was eaten for breakfast, Marco only took a few bites of his then handed the rest over to Sam who happily gulped it down. The rest of the group noticed Marco's abnormal behaviour, nobody wanted to say anything yet – the majority were still thinking about things themselves. The food wouldn't last them long though, their current mission had to be to find a way to procure food, whether that was wildlife in the forest or trading with some sort of nearby settlement. The horses would also need quite a substantial amount of food for the distances they'd been travelling, fruit and veg that wasn't poisonous or berries would be hard to come across naturally, their only hope for that would be a human village or town.

"Welp, shall we get a move on?" Kelly asked, patting her stomach full.

"Where do we go?" Tom asked, he'd never left the town that birthed him, but there was nothing left for him there.

"Wherever we want to!" Kelly exclaimed, "We're free now. We can just leave." She seemed quite set on the idea of leaving. It was an appealing offer too, at least everyone took a moment to think the offer through.

"We can't," Marco added, he was currently sat down on the grass, looking into the dirt.

"Marco," Tom replied, "you said it yourself… The castle won't ever be that defenceless again. We probably wouldn't be able to do anything."

"Tom… I only knew the people at the Tavern for a few days. You knew them your whole life, are you really contempt letting the murderous bas—" he cut himself off because of Sam, "letting the destructive hierarchy of anarchy continue their stampede over everyone? People have to sell their bodies to survive, people murder to get daily food, people have to sit in dark, dirty, damp caves and swing pickaxes at rocks in hopes of finding a few pounds of coal." Marco's voice wasn't loud, or angry, it held a sympathetic tone – his eyes looked like they'd been glazed by liquid. "I know there are people out there who sympathise with our cause, the Taverneers are proof of that, you are proof of that: We just need to find them."

Star was the first one to reply, "You and those people saved my life… I owe them to at least try and do something, besides! We've come this far, giving up now seems a little anti-climactic don'tcha think?"

Emilia sighed, "I'm with you, 100% Boss… The castle is all I've known for a long time; my home village was burned to the ground by those heathens over in Danafor so I doubt I'd have anything to return to either. I'd like to try and return there, even if I might die for it." It was comforting to know that Marco still had Emilia & Star on his side, he'd make sure to properly thank them someday.

Tom shook his hands in an attempt to protest but couldn't think of a retort so he gave up and submitted to the idea, "Yeah… Alright! I swear I'm going to make them pay!"

That only left one person left to commit.

"Y'all insane," Kelly uttered, trying to get them to see sense. "Seriously? You're gonna take on the monarchy… Again? After you lost this badly? That's madness! Count me out." She said before starting to take a walk down the road.

"Wait!" Marco called, standing up now, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going to find my family. Then get out of here. Now let me go." She said before turning back around.

"But! … What if… Ophelia's well-informed? Yes, so that means she'd probably eventually find out where you are with your family? Yes, what do you think she'll do when she finds you? Torture you again? Torture your family—" That pissed Kelly off a little, it seems her trigger was her family being threatened. It was at that point where Kelly stopped in her tracks before mumbling to herself and returning.

"Listen here kid, I don't trust you to be my leader – you've successfully managed to lead a surprise attack into hell… I vote Star." Her message was short, she gazed at Star with a small smile. "I trust her, she genuinely cares – which is infinitely more than what I can say about this guy." Star seemed shocked at the demand Kelly put forth, Marco gulped, realising that she was in fact correct. What qualifications did he have for leadership anyway? The best experience he had before this was ordering a jigsaw with his mother they found at a waste-site.

Emilia complained, "What gives you the right to tell us who we have in charge? Marco's done an excellent job, we sure couldn't do any better—"

"She's right Em." Marco whipped back, "I don't think I'm in a good place to be a leader right now… Star can do a much better job." He finished with a smile before turning to Star and walking over to her. "I vote Star." He said, looking her in the eyes wearing a sincerely sweet smile before bringing into a hug. "I love you." He whispered; her eyes seemed to light up at this. Recent events reminded him how quickly people could go from being perfectly fine and happy to be… dead. Star's throat seemed paralysed at the words Marco said.

"I vote Star too!" Sam cried, "I like her!"

"Welp… If Sam likes her, and Marco trusts her… I guess I'll vote Star too."

"That's the majority." Marco said, "Good luck, captain." He continued before adopted a salute, the two chuckled.

At first, Emilia seemed a little opposed to having someone as secluded and naïve as Star positioned as the leader but those feelings were quite trivial compared to the situation the group was currently in.

"Well… If I'm the leader, I think we should find a good place to let ourselves recover. Do we have a map?"

Everyone looked towards Tom.

"Wa-Me? No, I didn't bring one… It didn't cross my mind." A communitive sigh could be felt from the group, "Don't judge me! I was a bit pre-occupied at the time…"

"Hey, Emilia do you know this area?" Marco asked.

"Sorry, I didn't pay attention to where we headed while I was steering the horses. I know we went south, but that's about it. We could be anywhere that's more southern."

"Tsk. Well no use crying about it, let's just get going then – we'll figure it out while we go!" Star said, with that command, everyone jumped on the carriage and Star got up front with Emilia along the plank used by the driver. The rest of the crew sat in the back.

The time flew, the group had morally centred around Samantha's optimism, it could be said that she was the glue holding them together. They had to be strong: For her. Marco learned some sleight-of-hand tricks from Kelly while they were in the back, I suppose being a master assassin taught you a little bit of magic too. They didn't have a pack of cards but she was able to do coin tricks, the teen was originally opposed to using her talents for something so stupid but once Sam's face lit up at her first trick, it was revealed that Kelly did, in fact, have a heart in that steel chest of hers.

 **Last Night – Castle**

"Well that was exciting wasn't it?" Ophelia had come down from the balcony and returned to the ballroom, the guards had cleaned up the bodies and scrubbed the blood from the floor. However, that didn't change the fact that nobody really wanted to dance on a floor that not 30 minutes ago had executions carried out. The Chosen's families had to make their own way there, Alfonzo's parents couldn't make it due to the fact that they lacked sufficient funds for a ride. It was sad that they'd receive a notice saying their son had been 'Executed for Treason against the Crown.' Even though that was a complete bullshit lie. "Ah, I see there's a problem with the current venue… Very well, let's take this outside!" The Princess said before clapping and a group of servants flew to the aid of the families, directing them to the gardens.

Matthew kept trying to push his way through the crowd to Ophelia but the swarm of people was simply too great for him to make it. That was when a tap on his shoulder alerted him, spinning around he was greeted by a fat short man with brown hair, "Hello son!" He cried, a nasally, annoying voice bellowed from the lard-ball.

"Oh… Dad." Matt responded, his face seemed to drop, a little disappointment in his tone.

"What's with that attitude?" His father cried before taking his son into a hug. Matthew rolled his eyes.

"I uh… I'm having some girl troubles with Ophelia—"

"Ophelia? Are you with a chance to win this thing then?" His father seemed more interest in the mention of Princess Ophelia's name rather than his son's troubles.

"Perhaps, but that's not the—"

"That's great news! Wait until your mother hears about this." Matt was about to try and retort but stopped himself, ' _Pointless'_.

 **Garden's**

Ophelia took a stance on the infamous fountain, addressing all the families. "Well, the time has dragged on now, so I'll make this quick. It's been a pleasure meeting all of you, to name a few standouts: Desmon, you were bold, courageous and I wish you the best – but you're not the one. Phillip, you had a comedic mind and I'm sure that will come in handy during the future, but you're not the one. Aasim, I was actually really impressed with your skill with a sword, truly magnificent – I'm sure you have a bright future ahead leading a squad/troop/maybe even an army. But you're not the one. Matthew, you were able to see things from a unique perspective, you had wisdom in ways most lacked; for this reason, I, Ophelia Butterfly choose you to be my suitor." A wave on applauds on-looked the not-so shocked Matthew. His father struck him on the back with a mighty pat.

"Well done boy!" He cried, excited at the business opportunities opening up to him now.

"Yeah…" Was the only thing Matt could reply, a part in his brain nagged him still, he still saw Al's dying face looking at home: Staring into his soul.

"Come on, join me up here!" Ophelia shouted down, an obviously fake smile on her face. Matt had to put his on otherwise it might seem suspicious. River and Moon were stood at the back of the crowd.

"Our little girl has finally found a suitor Moon, isn't this great?!" The King cheered.

"Yes dear…" Her mind was still wondering what happened to Star, last she heard, Star was in the dungeons but if Marco burst through the ballroom door late – did he get her? She'd have to check later, hopefully, they got far enough away.

Matthew jumped on the fountain side with Ophelia, "Surprised?" She whispered in his ear.

"Well yes, it could've been anyone." He sarcastically whispered back, she rolled her eyes and addressed the crowd.

"This concludes the Choosing!" She said, as soon as Ophelia finished speaking, Matthew swallowed his inhibitions and grabbed her, bringing her in for a kiss in front of everyone which only earned more cheers. They broke after a few seconds, "What was that for?" She asked.

"They're loving it." He replied, "Isn't it good to be on the noble's good side?" She smiled ' _I chose wisely._ ' The Princess thought to herself while smiling.

 **Mid-Day – Star's Group**

"Ahhhh… It's sooo hottt." Star complained, she attempted to block the sun with her right hand but it only left the rest of her body melting, with the sun now in full beam it was easiest to summarise their current attires.

Emilia's servant clothing was messy, the bow had become untied at some point and fell while her shirt was untucked from her suit pants as it'd usually be tucked in and some of her hair strands were prickling out now.

Star was still wearing the same clothes she wore yesterday, a blue dress with rippled down one side – it had darker laces around the arms. Her bottom part had become slightly ripped, it got caught on a sharp rock while she was in the cell. Her hair remained pretty straight as per usual.

Marco's dark clothing had got really muddy from sleeping on the floor of the carriage, his right side was mostly dust-brown coloured now, likewise with Kelly who had her black and white jumper and a dark skirt on.

Sam wore a plain dark green dress, being from the lower-class she didn't have access to expensive dresses. Her face was a little mucky but that could be easily fixed after a small wash.

Tom wore similar attire to Marco, except his back was muddy as he slept against the wall of the carriage.

Kelly had finished performing her magic tricks now, promising to do more for Sam tomorrow. Most of the people in the carriage were beginning to feel the effects of dehydration, "God, my tongue feels like sandpaper." Tom complained as he kept swirling his tongue around in his mouth.

"Same," Kelly added on; head tilted over the edge of the carriage. They'd been riding for hours now; it was a real shame that they hadn't seen any signposts yet to give them an indication of their position. It was still a rather beaten road which meant there'd been a lot of travel down here, so if they kept following it – the group would eventually reach some sort of settlement. However, there was no telling how far that'd be. During Kelly's time of viewing the world upside down, she saw something through a break in the trees, it looked like… A deer?! "Guys!" She cried, "Look!" Marco and Tom peeked their heads over to follow her line of sight and eventually reached the same target.

"Emilia, stop the carriage!" Marco yelled to the front. The team assembled, "I went hunting with my father once, but I only remember how to gut and prepare meat, anyone good with hunting?" The obvious choice would be Kelly, so that was everyone's first choice.

"Me? Well with a bow I could do it, or a dagger, or a sword, or a throwing knife, or a throwing axe, or a regular axe… But I don't see any of those laying around, do you?"

It was then that it hit the group… They forgot to get weapons.

"Do you think we could… Choke it?" Tom asked, Emilia just gave him a 'WTF' face. "Just an idea."

Star sighed, "There's no point, we'd probably end up getting hurt if we tried to kill it. Let's just move on." With that blow to their morale, the group ventured forward for about another hour until they finally laid eyes on what they'd been hoping for. A sign that read 'Arcanretia' Emilia's face slightly lit up. "What's with that face Emilia?" Star asked.

"Arcanretia is the city of relaxation, we servants were granted to go there a few years ago – it was beautiful. It's one of the few cities that isn't destroyed by the poverty."

"Sounds like a plan," Marco added; he had stuck his head through the cape that covered the carriage from the driver. Star seemed a little off-put by the floating head advising them.

"Okay floating head," Star began, "To Arcanretia it is!" Marco went into the back again to inform the others of the choice, it appeared to be another couple of hours until they reached the place. Morale had taken a significant boost from the news of a city based entirely on recovering strength.

* * *

 **End Notes:**

There we go, I know some of you might be thinking - "Oh wow they're not bothered at all." They are! But from my experience, during the day - when our bodies are constantly taking in information, and it's bright outside, we as humans prevent others from seeing our weakness. But as the day drags on, we become tired; night falls, that's when we become most vulnerable, and alone, when everything is dark. I hope to explore that more in the next chapter.

Really though, this chapter was rough to write for me - I've spent maybe 4 hours on it, I procrastinated after 400 words because I really wanted this to be a decent chapter. Hopefully I achieved something of decent quality, perhaps in the bigger picture this chapter might seem better. I hope.

I go back on the 23rd actually, as the 22nd is a bank holiday! WOOoooo! So I'll aim to get 1 more chapter out before I go back. *Fingers crossed* but I'm busy... today? It's the 21st at 1:36 AM when I'm writing so it's technically Sunday, which means I won't be in for a few hours the rest of today, but I'll aim to get a chapter out either tonight or tomorrow :)

Thanks for your continued support,  
 _vK_


	26. Arcanretia

**Notes:**

Hey, new update! I really enjoyed writing this chapter, I think it's a bit more light-hearted compared to what it has been recently, the characters needed this break. So did I, I have a few end notes but for now I just hope you enjoy this chapter - I think it's my longest one so far :)

Oh, and this chapter focuses entirely on the main core of characters right now.

 **Reviews:**

 **SugarQueen97** \- Thanks for the compliment, I enjoyed that re-work a lot more.

 **brody Putnum** \- I'm not sure what you mean about a 'confrontation about their love'. Who's love? Star and Marco? Ophelia and Matt?

* * *

The group had been riding for about 4 hours now, they ran into a little bit of an issue with Sam needing to go to the toilet, which took far longer than it should've. However, the city of relaxation, Arcanretia had eventually come into view. The group came from a forest road, the gates were about a mile ahead of them, "It's here!" Star called back to the carriage which caused a bunch of heads to flip over the sides of said carriage in an attempt to finally see civilisation. Kelly's head was nowhere to be found over the edge.

"Hmpf, honestly, kids." She commented before slumping down into a more comfortable position. Marco looked back with a judging gaze; Kelly just shrugged her shoulders at him. At first, things looked decent – the entrance gate to the city was guarded with two men in metal plating, they had swords by their left hip. As the group approached closer though, they began to notice certain things that were worrying, a few broken tents could be seen outside the walls of the city, in addition to a terrible stench from the sewer exit. Star questioned whether this city was all it was cracked up to be; Emilia seemed a little edgy.

"Halt!" The right guard called, he stepped forward, "What is your business here?" He asked, hand on sword.

"We're here to relax," Emilia replied, wearing her best poker face.

"With a carriage?" The guard asked, seemingly unconvinced at the idea of relaxation whilst drawing a trading carriage.

"We're a travelling coach." Star added on, "Feel free to check the back. We've only got people and supplies there."

"Keep an eye on them." The guard asked his friend before slowly trudging his way through sloppy mud to the back-end of the carriage. Marco and the rest of the gang arranged themselves in sitting correctly on the seats, currently, Kelly was slumped on the floor, Samantha was laid down on her back, Marco was sat cross-legged; Tom was sat normally. The guard eventually found the other side of the carriage and looked in, the guys in there just smiled and waved at him. His eyes seemed to be rummaging for anything suspicious in the back. Contempt with her search, the guard flashed a small smile before return around – "Clear!" He shouted up front, the other guard then allowed passage into the city.

"Security is heavier than it was before," Emilia whispered to Star. "Did anything happen?" Emilia asked the guard as they jogged along.

"Long story… There was an outbreak recently, we had to quarantine a lot… Hence the tents." Star skimmed the outer-edge of the town again, noticing that said tents seemed to have patches of red on them, ' _What kind of epidemic was it?'_

"We should find somewhere to stay." Emilia told the rest of the group, "It's not great to have to haul this carriage and these horses around."

"Agreed," Star noted.

The first district that the group happened upon was probably where the poorest lived, the houses were made out of basic straw, twigs, a few planks of wood – stood seemed to be the foundation material. They probably wouldn't survive a flood… Or even heavy rain. Star seemed taken aback by the conditions, her mouth was wide as her eyes surveyed the people. "That's just what it's like for some people," Emilia told Star.

"There's enough food and money, though right? Why do people have to live like this? We could help them—the-the King could help—"

"But he doesn't." Emilia replied, "Listen, I know you're a good kid – but it's naïve to think you could help everyone. Don't get me wrong, the bastard sure as hell doesn't do as much as he could, but it's impossible to save everyone in a country from this life." Star seemed a little defeated at Emilia's words, "Sorry." The maid continued, "I might've come off a bit aggressive there…"

"No, it's fine," Star replied, her eyes still snapping around the town.

Truth be told, the conditions here were much worse than the town near the castle – the lowest kind of lifestyle you found there was a crappy stable as a home. This was much worse, some bodies had been strewn across the street, it was hard to tell if they were dead or not. It bought a wince of sympathy from Marco. Tom kept his eyes on the floor, trying not to think about it. Kelly went about her business as usual, it seemed death didn't affect her that much: How fitting. The crew tried to keep Sam's eyes from this part of the city.

"This place though," Emilia started, "It's a lot worse than what I remember. Before, this kind of area faded into a more suitable place to live quite a while back." The group had been riding through Arcanretia for about 30 minutes now, finally, they saw what seemed to be an actual house, followed by more. A good signal that they had reached the middle-class, the people who still worked but had a way of life that didn't really on pillaging or trading bottle caps.

"How much money do we have?" Tom asked, everyone checked their pockets. Kelly had all her items stripped from her back in the cell, they didn't have time to collect them either so she was out. Tom had a few copper pieces – equal to about 3 loaves of stale bread. Marco checked himself and found pretty much the same amount of money, they hadn't packed for a long journey. Star hadn't any money – there'd never been a need at the castle for her to have it. Emilia had about 10 copper on her person, needless to say, Sam didn't have anything on her. "Well…" Tom said, "Fu~~dge…" He finished.

"We need money then…" Marco observed.

"Oh really, Captain Obvious?" Kelly remarked.

"Guys, let's not fight – we need to figure this out," Star said, turning her head back into the carriage. "Wait… The carriage!" Star said, the idea slowly crossed the rest of the group's head.

"The carriage," Marco replied slowly.

"The carriage," Tom added.

"The carriage…" Kelly mumbled.

"The carriage," Emilia said back.

The group shared in a light-hearted chuckle at the comedy of the situation. "So, we selling it?" Marco asked, "It was a short time," He said as the teen began to stroke the splintered fragments of the wood, "But you were the best carriage a boy could ask for…" Kelly smirked but looked away to keep her happiness hidden. Star just sighed at the boy's stupidity.

"We'll have to get rid of the horses too." Star said, "Without the carriage, they'd just be dead-weight." The group seemed to acknowledge this assessment and began looking for an auction house, some sort of farmer in need of horses, or just merchant in need of a carriage – anyone that would buy them.

Emilia and Samantha went scouting for an inn or something that could house the team for the night while the other procured money. Tom and Kelly left to check out the west side, leaving Marco and Star to scout the East. Emilia's team took the horses and carriage, they'd thought it best to leave the carriage with the two most sensible people there – the group agreed to meet at the same place they split up in a while.

 **Star & Marco**

The time was about 5 P.M. the sun was approaching its set, casting a warming orange glow on the streets of Arcanretia. It was rather peaceful once you escaped the slums, most people seemed to be keeping in-doors, only about thirty people could be seen in the streets around Marco and Star. The duo had already tried their first shop, but the owner was… A little strange to sell anything too, it looked like he had a bad case of pinkeye. The two teens darted out of that shop, during their travels, they had come across: An armoury, a bakery, a bank, and a butcher. It took a lot of strength from Marco to stop Star from busting into the bakery and spending all the money they had on them. "Wow. Emilia didn't lie, this really is beautiful when you look past the… Place from earlier." Star felt a little confused as to how she should phrase what it was, knowing that Marco probably grew up in a place similar to it.

"Yeah, that was pretty bad – we could see a little of it from inside the carriage." A lingering smell of death dwelled in the air. "Looks like it's going to rain later tonight…" Marco observed, there was a large patch of low-clouds rolling in from the east.

"Yeah, we should hurry and try to find some place to sell," Star noted before the two continued their adventures.

 **Tom & Kelly**

"Come on dude, we've got two great horses and a wagon for sale!" Tom complained at this guy who just sat behind a pod, rolling his eyes at the youngster.

"And I don't need _two great horses and a wagon._ " The guy responded, he was chubby and his hair was greasy, it seemed to not have been cut for a while. He sat in a green shirt that was slightly too small for him, leaving his stomach exposed, a black suit and a black tie. That was when Kelly decided to use some of her… charms, to speak with the guy.

"Listen here fat-boy, no loving, double McMuffin –"his eye twitched "-fucking crop-top looking ass bitch, you're gonna buy these horses – or I will personally hunt you down—"

"Kelly." Tom argued, pulling on her arm and dragging her to the side, "We're not gonna get this guy to buy from us by threatening him."

"Look at him Tom, he's a thug, he'll buy from us as long as he has the right motivation." She said, cracking one of her fingers.

"But we can't walk into every town, threatening everyone we see and become most wanted #1!" He cried. Kelly sighed and stepped back for Tom to go speak with the fellow again. "Thank you," he whispered, "Sorry about my friend, she's a bit quick to the draw."

"I can tell." He had some venom to his voice. Kelly seemed aggravated but let it slide, which Tom was thankful for. "Listen kid, truth is, I wanna buy those horses – but I just don't like you. Take your business elsewhere."

"If you listen for a second, I'm sure we can work—"

"I ain't budging on it kid, take it else—"

"Oh, fuck this." Kelly barged in, snapping one of the pens from the man's desk in her hand before grabbing his head in one swift movement and bringing the sharpened pen to his throat – because of her small stature she had to climb a little bit on top of the table. "You're gonna buy those horses. Aren't you?" Her voice seemed distant, cold… It was the first time Tom had seen her like this.

The man contemplated his options for a minute, that was when Kelly pushed the pseudo-knife further against his throat, "Yes okay!" He blurted, "I'll give you 5 silver for both the horses. But I ain't buying the carriage or wagon or whatever it is."

"Pleasure doing business," Kelly said before storming out the shop, leaving Tom to sheepishly apologise and dart out with her.

"What the hell was that?" He called after her, she was already stomping back to where they agreed to meet.

"I got him to buy, didn't I?"

"That's not the point, this isn't how we do things!" He cried, standing in front of her.

"Yeah, well, your way got a lot of people killed, didn't it? Maybe if you were more ruthless that wouldn't have happened." She said before stomping past him.

 **Marco & Star**

The two had finally found a stall of a local merchant, they claimed that they were wishing to start travelling but needed a carriage – perfect! The deal went off without a hitch for the duo, the final pricing they settled for was about 3 silvers, so that'd be 8 silvers or 800 coppers between the two teams.

 **Meeting Point – 6:50 P.M.**

Marco and Star eventually found their way back, to be honest, they might've been here earlier but the two took a wrong turn and ended up in a brothel neighbourhood, the thought of what they saw made them shudder. "Marco…" Star moaned, "There were women… But they weren't…"

"Shh." Marco said, quickly trying to change the topic "Look there's the rest of the group!"

Tom and Kelly were the first to arrive, followed by Emilia and Sam who apparently had found a nice place with attached access to a hot-springs bathhouse. Male and Female were kept in separate bath houses before Tom got any ideas, he had been known to be quite the peeper back in the old days, he thought it made him look cool in front of other guys, usually, it ended in him getting beaten up before even getting the chance.

They decided to take the carriage to the merchant first, then the shifty business guy.

Nothing eventful happened during either business transaction – the shifty guy was still a little peeved he was threatened into a deal by such a youngster; however, he had seemed a little prideful in the younger generations because of it. Take that however you will. Tom and Marco were forced to carry the belongings, luckily there weren't too many but it still made both their arms ache from carrying the stuff so far.

 **Inn – 8:40 P.M.**

They finally arrived, the path that leads to the entrance was stoned, on either side was a patch of grass that had various flowers blooming – the sun had mostly set and so a purple light was being beautifully reflected by the windows of the building. It seemed rather large, easily passable for a dormitory. It was assumed by the team that the bathhouses would be behind the building, out of site. There was a wooden sign that was posted just outside, it had carved into it "Swann View Relaxation Inn". _'I sure hope it is.'_ Was a unanimous thought throughout the group.

Furthermore, due to the mass amounts of flower, that dreadful stench of death had somewhat been circumvented by the pollen and other sweet-smelling aromas. Samantha happily took a deep breath.

The team crashed through the door, surprising the receptionist at the number of people entering. "Oh, Miss Emilia, is this the rest of your party?" She asked, the woman seemed to be mid-late thirties, wore a professional black dress, had very dark – almost black hair in a bun, and had a few ink smudges on her left hand from smudging the papers she'd been writing on.

"Yes, how much did you say it was for a night?" Emilia asked.

"About 25 coppers per room, dear."

"TWENTY-FIVE?!" Kelly blurted out.

Marco nudged her and whispered, "I mean it does come with the bathhouse so… you know…" Kelly still seemed unconvinced at the humongous price, usually, you'd expect a room of this quality to be 10 coppers, if alone, without the added access to the bath.

"Okay, we'll take 3 rooms." Kelly was about to question that decision choice but Emilia beat her to the punch, "I want a good night sleep, okay. We've got the money right now; I think we could all do with a bit of peace and quiet from each other."

Nobody except for Kelly had an issue with that spending of the money. "How will we decide who sleeps where?" Marco asked.

"Simple," Emilia replied. "We'll sleep in the groups we went out in today." She finished, smirking at Marco who didn't really catch the ball and let it fall.

"Yeah, okay." He said, "But man am I hungry, can we still get food this late?" He asked the receptionist who replied with a smile.

"Of course, the kitchen is just down the hall and to the right, they should still be serving dinner, but it might just be leftovers."

"That's fine by me!" Marco cried back, already leaving with Tom and Kelly in tow.

Emilia sighed, pouring a silver piece into her hand and giving it to the receptionist who exchanged it for 25 coppers. "Sorry Star," Emilia said.

"Ah, it's fine. I'm sure he'll figure it out sooner or later, come on let's go join them for dinner." Star said, grabbing Sam by the hand who was happy to get some food after a long day's trek.

Dinner was a mediocre supplement, some soup that had gone a little too thick for anyone's liking, but it was at least very nutritious, there had been some rather soft bread to go with it which was a nice change of pace from what they ate as a snack on the road. It was certainly a change of pace for Star who had never had anything less than exquisite meals. They were usually leftovers of the feast at dinner-time back in the castle, Glossaryck used to bring her the scraps he got from the servants.

Sam was the first one to perk up afterward, "Let's go to the bath!" She cried, I think everyone was ready to clean all the dirt off them, it was amazing how much better you could feel after taking a nice, steamy bath. Everyone seemed to agree with that, even Kelly who was usually reserved about things like this was looking forward to letting the water wash away her troubles for a few minutes.

Firstly though, everyone unpacked in their respective rooms and changed into some provided garments, simple tunics that they could wear until their old clothes had been washed. It was an extra 5 coppers for that service but seemed worth the money.

The main issue was, the room had 1 double bed. Marco blushed when he saw the sleeping arrangement, the last time they slept together… Was it the night they went out after Markus' confession? Or was it after Kelly kidnapped Star that one time in the wine cellar? Aghhh! He couldn't think. Star knew what she was doing though, this was her plan, with a smirk on her face she pretended that she knew nothing of the arrangement.

Star and Marco left their room and headed for the bathhouse; the rain had begun to pour down now. "Ah… That's a bummer…" Marco noted, it was still quite warm outside despite the rain, and the bathhouses were indoors so it didn't stop them from going there. Just made the team break into a small jog to get there. Eventually, there was a fork in the road – the women baths were to the left and the men to the right. The duo said their farewell and went to their respective establishments, nobody else was in the changing room except for Marco. It seemed that you had to put your clothes into a basket and change into a towel that they provided. _Huh, neat._

After changing, Marco followed the direction signs to a room that once the door had been opened – a wave of warm steam caressed his face. It was a little difficult to see due to the opacity of the water vapour, but he managed to find the bath eventually, it was large enough to fit about thirty people comfortably so there wasn't a lack of space. In fact, that was an abundance of it as it was only him and Tom inside the bath right now. "Aha! Marco, I've been waiting for you." Tom pointed toward the teen.

"What is it, Tom?" Marco asked, sighing as he said it, he finally laid his head back against the stone wall and began to relax his muscles for what seemed like the first time in ages.

"We're going to peep!" He claimed; very loudly might I add. If there had been anyone else in the changing rooms or the immediate vicinity to the bathhouse, it wouldn't even be debatable on his words. Hell, if it wasn't for the harsh pitter-patter of rain, the girls would've most likely heard it.

Marco choked slightly, his grasp on the underwater stone bench slipped too and he fell slightly under the water. "Tom… Are you really this much of an idiot?!" Marco shot back, "I don't want you looking at Star…" He said, a little bit defensive. "And Kelly would literally snap your neck if she found out!"

"Don't worry my boy." His tone had gone a full 180, he had boldness to his voice. It was as if another personality escaped whilst he was talking about his plan to peep on the girls, "I will not look at the Princess or Samantha – the precious angel she is! And Kelly will only snap my neck if she finds out."

"I don't think you get what the main problem is…"

"Marco." His voice returned to normal, but it was serious. "There comes a point in every boy's life, when he must become a man. Do you know why women get in public bathhouses?" _This doesn't look good._

"No Tom I—"

"It's because they want to be seen!" Marco's face couldn't be easily explained, it was confused beyond belief. He had to stroke his temples to keep calm.

 _Breathe in… Breathe out…_ "Tom—"

"I mean have you seen Emilia's curves? Those pants she wears are just a perfect fit!"

…

"I mean… It has crossed my mind, once or twice back in the Choosing but that's not the point here – we can't. That's beyond illegal and rude, disrespectful…"

"Marco, buddy, you could be dead tomorrow. Not even God knows whether you'll be happy tomorrow, so you should at least be happy now."

"…" _What the fuck is with that logic? It's so… Not right, but… Not wrong…_

"You mean to tell me you're going to pass up the opportunity to get an eyeful of heaven, because of some self-righteous views you have?!"

Marco began to fall into a chuckle, laughing at the stupidity of the situation he found himself in, "If I go will you stop bothering me?"

"That's my boy!" Tom cried before jumping out of the bath and drying himself off. Marco joined him, there was a voice in Marco's head that kept crying out for him to stop, it wasn't right. At the end of the day, he was still a teenager – they live and breathe hormones.

 **Female Bathhouse**

"Ahhhhhh…" Star cooed, letting her body fully absorb the minerals in the water. The girls had covered themselves the best they could with towels while still remaining comfortable. Emilia tapped her feet in the water a little bit before fully entering and releasing a similar moan to Star. Kelly just dropped herself in, keeping a stoic look on her face – it was always hard to get a read on that girl.

The girls of the group had been chilling for a few minutes, Sam began to kick the water and swim across from side to side in light paddles. "Wow, this so good," Emilia said, leaning further back into the water. Kelly just hmm'd in agreement, closing her eyes and trying to let her drift off into unconsciousness. It seriously felt like any of them could just drift off into a peaceful sleep, the water seemed to take away most of their weight. Leaving them in a sense of euphoria, Star had been doing good recently. Glossaryck only crossed her mind a few times i.e. At dinner, or when they were walking back from talking to the merchant. It still made her sad, but she was starting to smile more at the memories he made with her.

Star scratched one of the scars she had just above her left breast, it was horizontal and a few inches long – she remembered it well because it was the first time Ophelia every tried anything against her. The psycho got a knife from the kitchen and tried to stab at Star – pretending they were sword-fighting. It took Glossaryck to come and lift 'phe from Star's body before the knife went any further in. She had multiple scars on her back from the times her father used to come in her room: Sometimes for the most redundant of things, for example, one time he came in after another King and Queen left from their stay because Star accidentally dropped her toy down the stairs and went to pick it up, only to be seen by them. She was only 10…

In her mind, her father was still the worst piece of shit – the scars he left would never leave her. But she had been getting better at not letting those scars dictate her life; especially after meeting Marco and the rest of the group.

Emilia noticed a few of those scars but decided not to say anything, too scared that they might bring unpleasant memories. "I know!" Emilia said, catching everyone's attention, "Let's play the word-association game! I'll start… Bath."

"Fuzzy," Star added afterward, relishing in the warmth of the water once more.

"Fluffy!" Sam said next.

"Unicorns," Kelly said, causing everyone to turn and give her a questioning expression, even Sam who thought Kelly was like the devil. "What? I'm not allowed to like unicorns?" The rest of the group just went back to their own thing.

"Fantasy." Said Emilia.

"Ghosts."

"Jeepers!" Samantha cried, that was when a crack could be heard from the wooden wall – before it caved in to reveal a foot by a foot sized whole which two teenager heads could barely fit through.

"Peepers," Kelly replied with nonchalance, the rest of the girls squealed and Emilia got up to go punish the two guys.

"No, it's not what it looks like!" Tom shouted. Marco just pushed against the wall, trying to bring his head back through, but it was no use – the fact that Tom and Marco were pushing different ways only made their heads collide and get further stuck, Emilia was essentially on top of them now, before she crouched down and clicked her fingers – wearing a face that could probably match what Kelly wore when she interrogated – I mean bartered, with that shifty guy earlier.

"Oh yeah?" She said before grabbing the two boy's heads and looking them dead in the eyes, "Hey Kelly, what do you think we should do with them?"

"Oh no no no!" Came a wave of pleas from the boys, Kelly stood up – mind you all the girls were still covered in towels. "No no no wa-wait-wait!"

"I say we cut off their balls," Kelly mentioned.

"Good idea."

A tsunami of high-pitched gasps came from the two boys, they had lost the ability to speak rationale words. "You two sorry?" Emilia asked, both profusely nodded. "What do you girls think?" Samantha was still a bit confused at the action the others took against Marco and Tom but she didn't question it, she got the impression they did something bad.

"Yeah, let 'em go," Star commanded, she was blushing and hid everything but her face under the water.

"But you two try anything like that again," Now Kelly was next to them, "And I'll break every bone in your pathetic bodies."

They just kept nodding before Emilia pushed them through the wall with a loud crack.

"What a bunch of creeps," Kelly said.

 **Outside the Bath House**

"Well, that went great," Marco admitted, dusting off some of the debris from his neck.

"It did!" Tom shouted, "When Emilia pushed us back through, for a split-second I—"

"Nope. We're done here." Marco commanded and shut up Tom before dragging him off, the Diaz was pretty embarrassed – _STUPID! Why'd you do that shit?_

 **Later That Night – Star and Marco's Room**

The two entered the room simultaneously, Star had been in the bath a lot longer but Marco needed to grab a few things from reception so they ended up meeting on the way back – the walk was rather silent. "Are you mad?" Marco asked.

"I'm not mad." She replied.

…

The girl was preparing to get in bed, Marco decided to run around the other side of the bed. "You sound mad…" He pointed out again.

"I'm not mad." She replied once more. "Just a little disappointed you'd stoop to that level…" The two still didn't face each other, Star refused to face him and Marco couldn't bring up the courage to face her. The Butterfly was patting down one of the pillows before hopping in and facing away from him. The boy returned the favour and blew out the candle before getting in and facing the other direction.

"I'm sorry." He mumbled about 10 minutes into the awkward rest. "I don't know what came over me, I just… I didn't think – and when I did think it was too late, and I – I haven't been thinking right the past while. I've just…" He had to take a minute to think, "I've just made a lot of mistakes and when Tom came to me all enthusiastic, I couldn't help but go along with it, you know... The truth is, I'm just… Really empty right now." Star reacted to this and turned the other way to face the back of Marco's head. "I feel really empty and sad. And I don't know how to get rid of this pain in my chest, I can't stop it – it keeps gnawing and me. At first, I put it off with thinking 'It was for the good of the kingdom', 'It wasn't your fault', 'It was Ophelia'. But the more I think, the worse it gets… It was me that got them all killed, maybe if I wasn't there… Sam would still have her auntie." This was the first time Star had heard that Sam's auntie had been killed in the raid. She didn't realise that Sam was a constant reminder of what happened, it must've really hurt. "So, like I said I'm sorry if you felt attacked or anything."

…

The conversation ended in silence after that, but Star eventually grabbed onto his shoulders in acceptance, "It's okay Marco. I wasn't angry, and I get it – you think it's all your fault." Hearing someone else say it made Marco feel even greater pain in his chest, "But I'm still here because of you, hell knows what would've happened to me had I stayed there, now that Ophelia's got a suitor they really didn't have a need for me."

…

"It's okay Marco, you can cry. It's fine to cry once in a while, it means your human still." A few moments later and a few sniffles could be heard from the lump, she smiled sympathetically and held onto his back. "I'm here."

"I just… I wanted to save them… I thought I could, I didn't think it would go down like that – or maybe, maybe I did! Maybe I knew it was a suicide mission but I went thr-…" He choked on his words, the tears starting to create a barricade of communication between the two. Hearing her friend sob like this started to put emotional baggage on her too, it reminded her of how she was back when he first met her. Lonely, sad, feeling like it's your own fault…

"It's okay Marco…" She repeated.  
"It's not, Sam—"  
"Sam's a strong girl, she'll get through this."

"Marco." She repeated softly, holding on to him tightly, feeling his body vibrate in shakes of crying.  
"It's my fault." He whimpered.  
"Shhhh," Star whispered, "it's not your fault. It never was, they knew the dangers and still went."  
The boy whipped around now and held back onto Star which caused her to be a little shocked, suddenly, this brown-haired fluff was attached to her chest, tightly holding around her body and whimpering into her tunic. It made her feel sad: Damn, it was contagious that thing. Even a few tears of their own began to leak through Star's eyes.

It took about 10 minutes for the crying to stop and Marco's heart rate to return to a somewhat steady pace. He left Star's tunic, it was mostly covered in wetness now, "Sorry." He said.

"Don't worry about it." Star replied, "I can go get a new one." Marco didn't respond, he was already passed out from the chore of today and yesterday. "Sleep tight Marco…" She said before placing a kiss on his forehead and leaving for the bathroom to grab a new tunic.

* * *

 **End Notes:**

Sleep tight Marco. There we go, not too bad eh? I have a few notices: Some of you might think "Wow, has this turned into a comedy?" The answer's 'no, not really'. But I'd like to think life isn't a single or two genres, it's a mixture - it has ups, it has downs, but the cast has finally got out of that stuffy castle. They can finally be teens once more, Tom is a teen who group on the streets; man's a player! I say that jokingly, he's an baboon when it comes to things like this, similar with Marco. I think the characters needed this to unwind, but make no mistake - Kelly's threat was real. XD

Was it too far with the peeping? Eh. Teens will be teens, Marco is pretty easy to influence right now, and Tom seems to be focused on getting some of those Emi tiddi pics xD Which is... him, these characters are pretty OOC (Out-of-character) anyway so I just threw in the tid bit about him being a peeper and the rest just wrote itself. I enjoyed writing the comedy of this chapter a lot, it was refreshing for me and I hope it was for you to read too.

Who knows, after this story I might write an adventuring story set in some sort of fantasy world with Star being a priestess, Marco being an archer, Kelly being a rogue or something - that could be fun. Either way, that's all from me for now, see you soon :)

Thanks,  
 _vK_


	27. Trauma

**Notes:** Okay, so this is a pretty short chapter - I go back to college tomorrow but I wanted to get something out today :)

 **Reviews:**

 **Slimster22 -** Thanks for the compliment, perhaps, it was just something I thought of as typing the end notes :P

 **SugarQueen97 -** I did wonder if it might've been pushing it a little too far, I didn't want the boys to actually see anything detailed so I kept it rather short with them actually in the company of the girls. I think Marco disappointed himself as well, I'd like to explain a little more of how I imagined his character to be and the reasoning for him doing such a thing. I used the idea of the Id, Ego and Superego - if you're not familiar with it, it's the idea that your consciousness is split up to those 3 parts, the Id is the animalistic instinct every human feels i.e. mating and aggression, the Superego holds what is to be morally correct - the moral compass, the most humane thing to do, while the Ego acts as a bridge between those two, looking at what is realistically possible. Imagine it to be like the devil and angel on your shoulders, with the devil being the Id, the angel being the Superego and you being the Ego. Marco's superego told him he needed to free people of the 'assumed tyranny of King River and help star- yada yada yada.' His Ego thought this to be a realistic goal, however, it didn't work - it took a huge blow to his idea of morality, he just sentenced people to death in an indirect manner. While his superego is down, that's where the Id comes in and tries to make him forget: Repress the memory. In this, his Ego is mostly run by his Id which tells him to indulge in more animalistic desires e.g. the whole peeping scene. This was only encouraged by Tom who seems to have less of a moral compass than Marco and so Marco ended up giving in to his animalistic desire and went along with the plan, once he received the slap/push by Emilia he came to his senses again and his superego returned saying "That was wrong." I could talk more but that's the basic run-down of his mentality in that point and why he did what he did :) And yes, it was a stereotypical trope from the anime genre.

 **brody Putnum -** Thanks for the compliment, I think you're asking "Did Star and Marco ever officially become a couple?"? The answer would be, I don't think so - it's a strange point because they're in a place between friends and lovers. They've shared at least one passionate kiss, slept together and all that. But I don't think I've ever included a part where they confront their feelings to each other: Again, there's been so much going on for the two it wasn't a thing that they had the luxury to talk about.

With that all said,  
 **Enjoy~**

* * *

 **Kelly & Tom**

Kelly was pissed at Tom for what he did, the two entered the room.

"Floor." Kelly commanded, pointing to it.

"Yeah…" Tom had already accepted his fate, he kind of felt bad for getting Marco caught up in the shenanigan but what's done is done.

 **Emilia & Samantha**

"Hey Emi..." Sam started, causing the older woman to look back – the two were already settled in bed in fresh garments, "Why was everyone so annoyed at Marco & Tom?"

It was a little hard to explain to a ten-year-old about the situation so Emilia decided to just avoid the entire conversation, "You'll understand when you get older." She responded before turning back. The girl wasn't satisfied with that answer.

"Everyone always says that!" She cried, pouting and crossing her arms; now sat up.

"Marco and Tom did something that was very naughty, and it was rude." She responded, still trying to avoid any land mines. It wasn't that she hated the two… Well… At least she didn't hate Marco – hell she barely knew Tom. The maid felt like she had to be strict with the teen, not wanting him to turn out to be some sort of social deviant. The lass had known someone like that before… Before the castle, he wasn't a bad guy; in fact, he was funny, smart and witty but the good old saying 'Just one bad day can make the sanest person insane.' Seemed to be proven right on him. After that day, Emilia lost most of her family, granted, Marco would never go down this path but she refused to let him even approach that edge.

"Hmm…" The little girl thought it over a while, eventually seeming contempt with the explanation, "Okay…" She finished before laying back down and wrapping herself up into a ball, drifting off into a peaceful sleep. However, Emilia didn't sleep then, she had seemed to have remembered something rather hurtful about her past. The woman had a little struggle to get it off her mind, images of the scene she was a part of years ago, the strewn bloodied bodies across the floor – faces smudged from the repression. Eventually, the servant broke out of her trance with a shake to the head, she went to the bathroom to splash some water in her face.

Emilia entered the bathroom; the rusted tap made a creak as it was swivelled around slowly, she caught a handful and splashed it on her face – inducing a newfound adrenalin rush to her body before grabbing a nearby towel and patting her face dry. _'Huh, that's weird.'_ She noted, looking in a nearby cracked mirror to see more water still on her face, but that wasn't just any water – streams seemed to be flowing down her rosy cheeks. Emilia took a deep breath, trying to shake the thoughts from her head. She sniffled a bit but managed to get it under control and returned to bed with Sam.

 **Tom & Kelly**

It had been a few minutes since the pair settled down, Tom had laid on the floor with a small pillow to support his neck. Kelly was comfortably wrapped in the bed, trying to get some shut-eye. However, Tom wasn't ready for that yet, "Hey Kelly." The girl opened her eyes and sighed quietly, "When you… Do you, still get bothered by death?" The question honestly surprised the little minx, she propped herself up on her arms to get a better look at Tom but he was facing the other way.

"… No. Not really." She replied, it shocked him, how could someone care so little about ending other people's lives?

"What was your first time like?" He asked, realising his immediate mistake as he heard a growl, "No! That's not what I meant… How did you feel after the first time you saw death?" He asked, still somewhat prepared for a knife to get thrown his way.

"I don't know."

"You don't know?"

"It was over so quickly, there was this guy… He was crazy, and he came into my house – he grabbed a knife and started waving it around, demanding some random-thing about… God and whatever, he then started going for my mother. I was 11 and, in my panic, I just charged at him, I had a pair of scissors in my hand and the rest is history: I didn't stop. I knew he was down and dead, but I was scared that he'd get back up – so I kept going, and going, it took my mother and father to drag me away, but I guess the damage was already done… I was fucked up by that point. Or hell, maybe I was fucked before that and I just exploded there." Tom wasn't sure how he felt about the story, he could hear something resembling sadness in her voice, but more melancholic. "I uh… They didn't look at me the same, they tried to reconcile me – tell me it was okay but I was just so on-edge after that. Then a guy came, I don't know his name, he never told me… He said it was 'Stream' but that was just a nickname, he taught me how to do this – how to be an assassin… It helped me deal with the… The overflowing rage and - Wait why am I telling you this?" She asked, there wasn't any real show of emotion on her face, only in her tone. "Why, what's up with you?"

Tom prepared himself, he kind of owed her the explanation from how much he told her about her life. "Back in the castle… I lost the only real family I ever knew."

"Wow that's rough." She added on.

"Yeah, we all knew that some of us would die going into it – but, it was a lot easier when I thought I'd be the one to die, or at least, it wouldn't be just me and Marco that made it out."

"How many?" Kelly asked.

"19 of us went in… Only two made it out. There were some really good people, I used to butt heads with D all the time but he was a good guy – genuinely wanted to do the right thing… Susan, Sam's auntie, deserved better than a sword through… Her heart."

"That's rough buddy, I can't even imagine what I'd be like if I lost my family."

"Didn't you say that your family disowned you or something?"

"Hehe, yeah… But I still love them, you know how family is?"

"Well my real brother betrayed us and got them all killed." Kelly stopped; she had just realised that the girl had stood on a landmine. An awkward silence is what then consumed the room. "We should get some sleep." Tom added a little later, Kelly agreed, "Oh and Kelly… I'm sorry about earlier, I wasn't trying to get a peep on you – it was—"

"Shut up, I still hate you." She responded coldly.

"Okay." He whispered.

 **Butterfly Castle – Royal Chambers**

Moon and River were in their bedroom, as usual – River had been pacing around all day, still furious that the peasants had the audacity to steal his daughter. To make it even worse, she had the rightful claim to the throne. If they managed to introduce her to the masses then it could turn his rule on its head. "Dear, I think your overestimating—" Moon tried to get a word in, but the King was too stuck in his head to listen.

"Shh." He commanded, "Those bastards took Star… She's the one with the claim, not Ophelia – we can't allow her to be free."

"Sweetie, she's a little girl and it's a group of teenagers – maybe we should just leave them. She's our daughter, you can't mean you intend to send a manhunt after her…" The Queen pushed for her agenda once more.

"The girl, could possibly become the most powerful person in the country. Does that sound like a threat we can ignore? The only thing she inherited from us was power, but that is a good idea for a manhunt…"

"You can't be serious! Mercenaries would go after her, trained killers!"

"Maybe that isn't so bad." River added, Moon's face was disgusted with her husband, "That girl – if given the crown could send the country to depravity! You saw it yourself, you said it yourself! The girl is too much of a loose cannon, she shares too much with that bitch we took this crown from."

"Yes, I did, but maybe Star changed. We haven't had a real conversation with her in years!"

"Ophelia is crowned Princess and that's final. Star is an inconvenience in every meaning of the word."

"She's your daughter—"

"She's a failure!" He shouted back. "I had hoped my attempts at beating sense to her would trigger something, but the coward only wept at it—"

Moon's blood began to boil, the thought of River doing that – hoping it would've led to her attacking back was sick! It was twisted, and she had seemed to finally reach a tipping-point, "Are you that twisted you need to beat your only daughter to try and get her to fight back?! You have scarred her! Ophelia has scarred her- maybe you didn't notice because you were too busy being 'parent-of-the-year' but your daughter – _Star_ was in the infirmary most days, hiding from you! Hiding from Ophelia, the only person that helped her stay sane was Glossaryck, he's gone! Why would she ever want to come back to this country?! She's probably already crossed the border!" Moon forgot herself: That was her mistake. Or so it seemed, but River remained silent.

"We need to find her… Quick." The King said before storming out the room, leaving Moon alone.

 **Matthew & Ophelia**

Now that the two were a couple, they had a new room to call home, for the two of them. They were on the royal floor now; it was one level higher but had a much grander style and outlook onto the castle. Purple danced through the cracks between wood in the furniture, magnificent chandeliers (2 for their bedroom) dangled with crystals hanging in symphony. It was a real hassle to get the candles lit and unlit, but that's the price you pay for beauty I suppose.

Matthew had spent the last day thinking a lot about what he'd done. Sure, it seemed like the guy had won, he got the girl. That was the point of this whole thing: To win her hand in marriage. So why did he still feel so annoyed at himself, he tried to warn Al it wouldn't end well – he tried to stop Ophelia from cutting him down, ' _I did everything I could._ '

"Watcha thinking about?" 'Phe asked, combing her hair before bed. She wore a silky pink gown – it matched her hair in that respect. Matthew was wearing a black and white chequered pyjama shirt and plain black shorts.

"You didn't have to kill Alfonzo you know…" Matt responded, not making eye-contact.

"This again?" She seemed fed up, "I told you, I needed to set an example."

"You say that, but there are other ways to set examples than hacking everyone to pieces that doesn't agree with you, they'll be no subjects left to command if you kill them all."

"Who's going to miss a few rebels and a peasant?"

"I can understand the rebels but he was just a peasant, he didn't need to be killed. A few days in the dungeon would've sufficed, he only spoke out against—"

"That's it, he spoke against me. I won't have that in my kingdom." She finished brushing and began to walk to Matthew who was on the bed, sitting down next to him.

"Ophelia please, if this is going to work – I want you to confide in me, talk to me… Let me advise you, you're the most beautiful, smart person I've ever met. I see something in you, something that most don't. But if this is going to work, I need you to trust me." He gently caressed her hair, moving it above her ear.

"You think flattery is going to work?" She asked.

"I hope so." He responded with a gentle smile.

"… Yeah well… Perhaps I'll try. I'll try to confide in you, you're something special yourself ya'know." She replied with a small smile.

 **Star & Marco**

Star had just returned from the reception, a new piece of clothing in hand – she moved into the bathroom and began to strip, slipping into the new tunic. _Much better._ She happened to glance at herself in the mirror, _Wow._ She thought, the girl had never seen herself in commoner clothes before, it was certainly a change of pace for the Princess. "Looking like this you'd think I was from another country." She chuckled to herself. _From another country huh?_ Glossy's words ran through her head again, how he suggested that she needs to get out of Mewni. At the time, she felt obliged to stay in the castle, thinking that she had a chance to take the crown. _I could leave, start a new life… No. No! You promised you'd stay and help, you can't let those people die in vain… It'd destroy Marco._ She took another look at the unconscious bulge in the covers of the bed, _I can't do that to him. Stop it head!_ She shook it off before climbing under the covers and drifted to sleep.

 **Morning**

It was about 9:30 A.M. when all the group were ready, Star and Marco didn't prepare at all – they were ready to go explore at 8:30, but Tom and Kelly required some extra time, apparently something happened with the turn order for getting dressed and a slightly-unconscious Tom might've jump-scared Kelly by trying the door knob when she was in there. Emilia and Sam were the last ones to arrive, the duo had simply slept in too long.

"What's the game plan then?" Tom asked.

"We need to recover our strength first, I don't think anyone here is in the mental state to attempt something yet…" Star had assumed most had been suffering with the traumatic events from a few nights ago, the slight nod from people in the group encouraged that thought. "I think we should take it easy for a while, try not to draw too much attention to ourselves." She said while staring at Kelly.

"What?" The greenette shot back.

"Shall we go looking around the town then?" Emilia asked, "It's a lovely day outside." The sun was beaming down, and there was a severe lack of clouds in the sky, the mud was still damp from last night's rain and there were a few dark patches on the streets.

"I want to!" Sam added, rather energetically.

"Alright, I guess we're going out." Star said, the group ate a little bit of bread and took off, they were probably going to buy some basic street food – hoping it didn't kill them – from the town streets. The team had left the Swann Inn and began to march onward; they were invited to the outside world by a stench of death once more, Kelly and Emilia seemed to have gotten used to it by now, Sam was still pinching her nose and making a disgusted face. A few minutes after walking, the group passed a notice board, a few similar posters got her attention. "What are those?" She asked before approaching them, the closer the got – the easier it became to make out the main title. "WANTED."

Marco's jaw nearly dropped off when he saw his notice, there were only ones for: Star, Marco, Emilia and Kelly – they were drawn to paint them in a bad light, Star's small birth marks on her cheeks had been changed to scars and she donned a grizzly gangster look. Marco had one of his eyebrows raised and looked like he killed someone. Kelly had an evil smirk and Emilia looked as if she had fangs, but they were close enough to their actualities that it would be hard to mistake them if caught together. They were wanted alive, which I suppose was a good thing, the crime was simply 'Treason'. It wasn't a huge bounty, so hopefully the big-named bounty hunters would ignore it, however, if some bar schmuck were to see it: Who knows what could happen?

"I think we should find disguises." Marco whispered; Emilia nodded.

"Let's go…" Star said, a little worried at how quickly those wanted posters were put up – who knows how far they've already travelled. Perhaps there's nowhere safe anymore in Mewni.

* * *

 **End Notes:** Like I said, much shorter chapter. I didn't spell-check it today so, whoopsie me, but I hope it was understandable regardless.

What'd you think? Review, suggestions and constructive criticisms are always welcome and hopefully I'll reply in the next chapter to you :)

Thanks for reading,  
 _vK_


	28. Work

**Notes:**

Hey it's been a little while, the only time I've got to work on the story right now is the morning while I'm at college before lessons begin, I usually get about 30 minutes-1 hour and it's not necessarily per day, hence why the chapter takes so long to come out. Thanks for bearing with me, my first exam is in 18 days as of 2/5/2019 (Or 5/2/2019 if you use the other format of M/D/YYYY) Enjoy the chapter, I gotta go!

 **Reviews:**

 **SugarQueen97 -** The idea of Ophelia believing she has to lose everything to get redemption is a neat idea, I might try it at some point - probably not with the idea of paralysing her. Getting amnesia is a good call, that could be fun. I've got something else in mind for Ophelia right now so I won't say anymore :)

* * *

The team wandered around the town, keeping their heads down and avoiding eye contact with strangers, thankfully, from the previous day's rain there was less people out due to more people trying to make use of the rainfall for their crops or just making safe drinking water from it. But there were still enough people to fill up the town square twice over if they all converged on it. After about 12 minutes of walking down one street they saw when seemed to be a rusted, chipped tailor icon outside of a wooden cottage-like building. "Think they'll have any new clothes?" Marco whispered.

"Probably." Emilia responded, "Last time we were here, Phil ended up vomiting on his clothes from drinking too much and we had to find somewhere to get new dress-wear, it was a place with a similar icon."

It seemed like their best-bet so the group entered. Immediately, the deathly smell had been displaced by a powerful stench of bleach, cotton and burnt wool. "Ah dammit!" A guy from the back shouted, he came out beating the air around him that was slightly discoloured from fumes. "Oh?! Customers?!" He seemed odd, his voice was chirpy and high-pitched, it would get annoying after talking to him for a short time. He also looked to be shocked that someone had actually entered his shop, never mind the fact that it was six people who entered. Sam seemed a little off-put by the man.

He wore a green apron, a tight black vest with gold trimmings and similarly coloured trousers. His shoes had looked like they were significantly more worn compared to the rest of his clothing, were those his work-shoes? "Hello…" Star replied rather awkwardly; she was a little unsure of how to deal with his… Excited personality. "What were you doing back there?"

"Stuff." He replied quickly.

"What kind of stuff?" Emilia asked.

"Stuffy stuff." Emilia sighed and Tom also seemed ticked at his 'game'. "What brings you to my shop?" He asked, swiping down on his apron to dust himself off.

"We need some new clothes." Star replied, stepping in front of the group.

"A simple matter indeed, do you have money?" The man asked, leaning on the counter.

That was when Emilia stepped out, holding the bag of coins before jingling them, "Will this suffice?"

"That will." Looking further into an inspection you could find that the pricing of the clothing were:

40 coppers for a plain dress.

45 coppers for a detailed dress.

30 coppers for a plain shirt.

35 coppers for a detailed shirt.

35 coppers for regular suit pants.

40 coppers for silk suit pants.

25 coppers for a flat cap.

10 coppers for 2 pairs of socks (cotton).

40 coppers for vests.

There were many more clothing choices, but those were the first page.

The group spent quite a while in the shop, Emilia, Star and Sam browsed the dress-wear together. Marco and Tom spent free time trying on different ridiculous hats. Kelly, on the other-hand just picked some random dark clothing and stuck with it, she was the first to finish. Sam brought out a lovely simple dress, to be honest it was her smile that made the outfit come together. "Wow, that looks amazing!" Star exclaimed while Samantha gazed around herself, trying to eye up how she looked from an outside view.

"Yes, it's a lovely dress." Emilia complimented. Before this, Sam had been wearing a pale green tunic and some random pants that were in the Tavern. Emilia herself was currently wearing ripped servant clothing, it wasn't too ripped, but the end parts of the shirt which connected to the hand were tattered and ripped on her right side. She had done away with the vest that she wore, it drew too much attention and was now in a white shirt that had a few ripped near the ends. Star was wearing the remains of one of her dresses too, she hadn't picked any new clothes up and so had a light blue dress still on. The girl had ripped the frills at the bottom herself to try and allow more movement, thankfully it wasn't needed as they didn't run into any troubles on the road or in Arcanretia. The group decided to settle on that dress for Samantha. Emilia picked up a new shirt and a sports bra, she wanted to avoid wasting too much money so only bought the essentials before heading over to the changing rooms to try on her selection. Star and Sam were stood near the racks of clothing, they were 50% trying to find clothes for Star and 50% playing around.

It took Star a while to find something she felt comfortable in, the outside of her changing room looked like a trash-heap. Eventually, she thought to get a white dress that puffed out to be faint pink. Emilia gave the thumbs up because she genuinely liked the dress, while Samantha gave a thumbs up because she was fed up with sitting there.

Simultaneously, Marco and Tom both managed to finish shopping, Tom grabbed a flat cap and a black shirt with dark pants. Marco went for his signature plain white shirt, black pants and a new pair of shoes. They were simple shoes, black and laced – slightly worn because of the fact that they were second-hand, but they protected his feet well enough and were easier to move in than his previous ones.

In total, the group had 4 silvers and 45 coppers. "Say you folks don't look like you're from around here?" The guy asked as the group began to leave with their bags.

"That obvious?" Tom replied; he had his bag slung around his shoulder.

"There's a festival on some time this week, if you're interested. Usually it's good entertainment, this year they have rocket lights."

"Rocket lights?"

"It's a little something I've invented myself; they are quite the spectacle if I do say so myself." The man seemed rather proud of himself for this so-called invention of 'rocket lights'.

"We might check it—" Star was halfway through her response when her eyes caught a glimpse of Sam's ginormous grin, "Looks like we're going." She finished, "Do you know how much admission is?"

"If I remember, it's about 40 coppers per person." Kelly's face seemed to drop at the news; the girl seemed to be rather stingy with money.

"240 coppers is a lot of money." Emilia scratched her chin in thought. "That doesn't even include food or drinks while we're in there."

"But I wanna go…" The grin had shifted into a frown.

"I don't mind staying at the inn." Tom mentioned, but was dismissed by Star.

"No, if we're going, we should go together. How many days til the event?" She addressed the shop keeper.

"Two." He replied.

"… Okay. We'll go." Star said, looking around for confirmation from the group, they all seemed up for it.

 **Outside the Shop**

"We're going to need more money." Emilia informed, "With just the admission and the next day of stay at the inn, we'd have only 1 silver and 30 coppers left." If we include food and drinks it'll probably go down to 30 coppers. That would barely be enough to cover 1 night for 1 room."

"What do you have in mind?" Star asked.

"We won't be able to get a full-job in time, so the only option is day work where you get paid at the end of each day… It's usually manual labour so that would probably narrow down who they'd pick to young men." The two then turned to Marco and Tom who seemed a little disappointed but had already accepted their fate.

"Yeah, okay." They replied.

 **Next Morning – Butterfly Castle – River**

The brute was already awake and training, he had a habit on going long hunts with some of the nobles. He always brought him a bear-skin or something as a treasure for Moon, I think he thought it was endearing but it honestly made her rather disgusted. Moon, Ophelia and Matt were enjoying breakfast by the table. "How are you enjoying it here so far?" Moon addressed Matthew; the two youngsters hadn't been wed yet, however; it was planned in the near future.

"It's excellent, your majesty." He answered, careful not to say anything too informal. Now that the Choosing was over it put a lot of pressure on him to constantly keep up the formalities.

"That's great, how about you 'Phe?"

"It's fine." She responded, poking at her sausage with a fork.

"Your majesty!" A servant burst through the door, "Urgent message!" Those at the table seemed shocked at the sudden intrusion.

"What is it Manfred?"

"Your highness, there's been a message from a nearby city 'Arcanretia', it says that the rebels have been spotted there." Ophelia seemed to nearly jump up at the news, Matthew gulped – he didn't want them to be killed, Moon was only concerned about Star. Of course she knew Marco would be there, he was a genuinely decent kid from what she could tell in the short time they spent talking.

"Get the King." Moon commanded.

River was brought to the room immediately, he walked in angrily as his training had been disrupted. "What's all the fuss about?" He asked.

"Father, Star's group has been spotted—" The King's veins had nearly burst just hearing about the failure, "—near a place called 'Arcanretia'."

There wasn't much time to discuss what their choices were, River exploded with commands…

 **Arcanretia**

The previous night went without a hitch, they hadn't the time to work during that day, but Marco and Tom did find somewhere to work today. It was pretty easy to find, with the massive plague that had just passed through it left a lot of job spots open. Emilia wanted to go sight-seeing but the rest of the female team wanted to relax so they visited the rec room provided by the hotel. It had a few things to do like fussball… and… fussball: They had to improvise to spend an entire day there.

It was quite a luxurious room, nothing compared to the castle's rooms, a few nice couches were dotted around to rest on; Kelly spent most of her time there. That was until a woman who worked at the inn came over, "You don't look like you're having much fun." She observed.

Kelly shrugged her comment off, "If it ain't got something I can hit, I ain't interested."

"We've got a backroom, officially it doesn't exist. But we've all gotta make money somehow right? You seem like the kind of person that'd be interested in, that stuff?" The assassin seemed intrigued by the employee's mention of something in the back.

"Cool." Kelly said with newfound energy, she followed the woman to the back where they went through multiple doors before arriving at a dark room. Faint thuds could be heard from hits connecting with a punching bag. After another few seconds of walking, Kelly's eyes began to adjust and she found herself in an underground fighting arena, not many people were here now – a few men cleaning the floors and then a handful of others training. Kelly could see a few women down there too; they had formed their own little gang from the looks of it. There was a small rock formation that resembled stairs which Kelly descended down. In the centre of this massive room was a basic ring, it had a small wooden cage going around it and a little bit of padding on the floor, it looked to originally be white but seemed stained dark red from the dried blood that had seeped into its molecules. "Cool."

 **Back in the Rec Room**

They had a chalk board in the rec room that had seen years of use, different colours had blended into the innards of the rough sandpaper-like material. The chalk sticks that the inn had were quite short, but they did have multiple colours – for some reason the green stick looked brand new, it was still about 10cm long while the others were barely 3cm. The trio had a lot of fun with the blackboard, the three were currently playing hangman. Sam was up, so far, she had 'C _ _ _ e / C _ _ e' written down, and the duo had three lives left, Emilia was sat on one of the sofas while Star laid front-down on the ground, supporting her head in her hands. "A!" Star shouted. Sam returned to the board and scribbled, 'C _ _ e / C a _ e'. By that point, Emilia and Star both knew what the answer was but decided to play a long a bit more.

"Z!" Emilia cried. Sam giggled and continued her drawing of the hang man: Two lives.

"K!" Star responded, Sam pouted a little, she was awfully competitive. 'C _ _ _ e / C _ k e'

Star proceeded, "M!"

"Nope!" One life.

"A!" Emilia cried.

Samantha began to shift around after adding the letter 'C _ _ e / C a k e'. Emi and Star exchanged a glance and then the Princess said "Y!"

"Nope!" She laughed and finished off the hang man, "I win!" She shouted before filling in the rest of the word ' / C a k e', giggling the whole way through. Star and Emi smiled sweetly at the Sam, it was nice that they could still enjoy life like this.

"Hey has anyone seen Kelly?" Star asked the other two companions but they both shook their heads, the group finally became aware of Kelly's absence. They decided to ignore it, she wasn't the type to say where she'd be going anyway.

 **A Few Hours Later**

The trio were playing eye-spy now, it was in the middle of Star's turn when the door to the rec room opened up revealing a pink-haired ruffian, he was gasping heavily, another man appeared shortly after – he had ruffled brown hair and came in with dirt covering every pour. It almost looked like he had taken a mud bath, he wasn't breathing nearly as hard as the other guy. "Who're you?" Star asked.

"It's me." Marco replied… No response. "Marco?" He pushed, a little more confused

"Oooooohhhhhhhhh…" She exclaimed. "Right…"

"Looks like it's been a long day." Emilia chipped in.

"You've no idea…" Tom replied, he had his eyes closed and was slumped against the door frame.

"It wasn't that bad." Marco stated, "It was pretty normal work."

"Freak." Tom commented.

Marco began to walk over to the couch but the trio of females screamed, "STOP!" He froze in place, scared from the sudden backlash. "Look at yourself!" Star exclaimed, after taking a moment to examine his body, it finally clicked why they screamed at him to stop.

"Valid point. I'll go get a wash."

"Same." Tom replied, but before the two could get out the room they had been furtherly stopped by the Butterfly.

"How much did you earn?" The two males looked at each other with disappointed faces before holding out their pockets to reveal a grand total of 35 coppers. "Only 35 coppers?" She asked, a little bewildered.

"It is cheap work." Marco explained, "You'd only be able to make a frugal living off it; trust me I know."

"We need more money." Star huffed out, slightly deflated from the news. They only had 405 coppers left now. After tonight they'd have 330 coppers, leaving them with after admission: 90 coppers.

Luckily, Kelly decided to burst through the opposite door, she had a bloody nose, a few bruises forming on her arms and legs, along with a black-eye. Her hair was a mess, frazzled and I think there had been some pulled out, it was like an afro. The teen was wearing a wicked smile and came limping towards the group before dropping a hand-load of coins on the ground. "93 coppers."

"Where'd you get that?" Star asked.

"I won it." She replied casually.

"How'd you win it?"

"I fought for it."

"You fought?!" The group shouted in unison.

"Where?" Emilia asked.

Kelly pointed to the door she came from, "There's an underground fighting ring there. It seems I've become something of a champion, it's amazing what training in assassination does to your body after 5+ years."

The team wasn't sure what to be more surprised about: The fact that she became a champion or the fact that this sweet little inn had an underground fighting arena. "Well… That's good." Star eventually choked out, "That brings our money for the festival up to 183 coppers. We can make that work." Her smile returned.

"How much did you guys make?" Kelly asked Marco and Tom.

"30 coppers. Between us." An annoyed Tom replied.

"Between you?! Oh my God, I made 90+ alone!"

"Bite me." Marco snapped back, "I'm off for a shower."  
"Same dude." Kelly replied.  
"I'll go too." Tom said, dragging himself off the floor, leaving a small sweat patch.

* * *

 **End Notes:** As you can probably tell I didn't spell check it, this was collated together over the course of about a week and a half so it might jump around in writing a few times. Anyway, lessons will begin in 15 minutes so I gotta go, but thanks for reading!

Review! Any suggestions are welcome and I like hearing your comments! :D

Thanks,  
 _vK_


	29. Author Note 3 9-5-2019

Quick update!

My exams start on 20th May, then 23rd May for Physics paper 2, after which I have a week off school before going back on Monday 3rd June - on which I have Computer Science Paper 1 in the morning then the final Physics paper in the afternoon. After that day, everything kicks off. Tuesday has Chemistry Paper 1 followed by Wednesday's Maths Paper 1 (which I'm severely struggling in right now). Point is, I have 11 exams in total over the course of about 3 weeks and that's about 23 hours I spend in the exam hall. I simply do not have the time to work on the story right now, I might get a chapter done over the week I have off, but I'm spending Thursday and Friday in college revising and I'll probably do a lot more revision outside of college.

Worst case, I might not get another chapter done until like the 17th June when I finally finish with Chemistry Paper 3. Even then, I might just need a few days or a week to rest up because I'll be from all of it.

Don't worry about me not wanting to continue, I do - I have an idea where I'd like to go next and other stuff but I simply lack time to write, it takes about 3-6 hours for a chapter.

Anywhoo, what have you guys/girls been up to? What'd people think of the latest episodes in Star? I've been severely enjoying the series from seasons 3 and 4, the first was quite cartoon-y but the last few episodes have been fantastic. It's a shame that it's the last season, I really love the characters that Ms Nefcy has created.

Oh! Also, I forgot to mention but I did edit the scene that **Anna** had taken personal issue with, I apologise. I did say I was going to refrain from such tropes as with the bathhouse scene, I didn't mean it as anything lewd or explicit - it was just a passing comment I must've thought of while trying to hide my laptop from my friends before college started. Again, I'm sorry if that was gratuitous. I don't get much info on my demographics e.g. How old you all are, What your identified gender is, Personal likes and dislikes, etc. Right now, I'm just doing my best to create something resembling a story: An adventure. Something with cliche scenes, Cheesy love-stories, Character development, Darkness and Hurt and Pain and Love and Comedy and Excitement.

Thanks for listening,  
 _vK_

P.S. Starco forever! :)


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